


Creeds & Credibility

by MsMiaMimi (Mc_Mimi)



Series: The Adventures of Little Red and His Big Dick Friend, The Asshole [2]
Category: Hyakujuuou GoLion | Beast King GoLion, Voltron: Defender of the Universe (1984), Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Anal Fingering, Blood and Violence, Bro talk, Canon-Typical Violence, Declarations Of Love, Drama, Established Relationship, Evil-Doing, Fem!Keith, Humor, Infidelity, Keith's Baby Teeth in a Bag, Kolivan Deserves What He Gets, Krolia! Yes!, Light BDSM, M/M, MonsterDick!Lotor (yes you need the warning), Multi, Penis Theater, Royal Pose-offs, Sincline don't touch that its not yours, Slav was right about everything, The Fam Gets Work Done, Zarkon is not invited to the wedding, multi-dimensional camping trips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-24
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-02-06 05:12:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 56,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12810354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mc_Mimi/pseuds/MsMiaMimi
Summary: Prince Lotor's experiment with the comet opens the door for his (even more) evil counterpoint to enter their reality.  Keith has to deal with politics, war criminal charges, shaky family dynamics, and two very judgemental Lions.AU SPACE-TIME ADVENTURESAnd lots, of arguing, breaking up, making up, conspiring, plotting, fighting,fingering, experimental shapeshifting, and tom-foolery and humperdinking.*SEASON 6 gave me life and Baby Keith.  That's all I need.*





	1. Chapter 1

Slav sits across the table as Keith eats his breakfast and slams his own bowl of food goo on the table.  “There is one reality where you are captured by the Galra, turned into a sex slave that serves all the generals and wealthy soldiers and finally escapes with the aid of a suddenly sympathetic Prince Sincline.  In that reality, Shiro and I are married and have two sons fighting for the cause.”

Keith stares across the table while oatmeal drips from his spoon.  “And… you’re telling me this, why?”

Slav shrugs, “I just thought it interesting to note the differences.”

“That I’m not a sex slave?”

“No,” laughs Slav, “You’re still heading for sex slave territory.  I mean me and Shiro, of course.  In that reality, he was a buxom lady with blonde hair and an alluring accent.”

“Right.” Keith drops his spoon and gets up, “I’m not hungry.” 

“Too bad.  You’ll need the energy!  If today goes like I think it will you’ll—”

Keith hurries out the door and sighs.  He’s had enough of Slav’s predictions for a lifetime.

* * *

 

The ship is full of activity, finally operating as an intergalactic base of operations.  The coalition, the rebels, the Blade of Marmora, and Galra defectors from Lotor’s forces have moved in and utilized all the space as it was intended when it was built centuries ago. 

It bodes well for the coalition, and they no longer feel alone in the fight against the Galra Empire.  But it’s impossible to find a quiet moment.  Keith leaves the commissary and passes deck after deck, already tired of the noise.  Hunk and Shay carving down a stone that they want to experiment in making armor with.  Matt backing away as Lance lectures him for staring at Allura a second too long.  Pidge and Regris fighting over how to store some data they’ve collected.  It’s a good noise, full of work and progress.  But it’s just too much, too soon.  Keith heads for Lotor’s suite.  It’s crazy to think it’s only been a week, but Lotor did indeed demand larger space.  And Allura reluctantly gave it to him.  Keith’s hoping to find the bedroom empty since the Prince is supposed to be expanding their maps with Coran.  But he finds Lotor, sitting crossed-legged on the floor and eating noodles.  “What are you doing?”

Lotor raises a brow, “What does it look like I’m doing?”

“It looks like you’re dodging actual work,” says Keith even as he moves past Lotor to collapse face-down on the bed.  He’s thankful Shiro and Coran ordered him to take time off any official duties to put himself back together.  It’s hard to forget, when everyone is quick to pat him on the back for attempting to sacrifice himself, only to be saved at the last minute by his untrustworthy boyfriend...  “Do you have more of that?”

Lotor grins at him and gives him a wink, “I have plenty and some fresh water, too.  But you’ll have to earn it, Little Red.”

“Oh really?”  Keith sits up looks at the glint in Lotor’s eye.  Then sighs and collapses, “Nah.  I’m good.”

Lotor laughs and puts his bowl down.  He walks over to the bed and falls over Keith, kissing him on the back of the neck.  “Still tired then?  You were under a great deal of stress, it’s no wonder after what you went through.”  He kisses Keith again and turns him around in his arms.  “I don’t know what I would have done if anything had happened to you.”

Keith closes his eyes and sees the red glow of the ship and opens them with a shake of his head.  “Don’t.  I don’t want to talk about it.  I did what I had to do.”

“And I did what I had to do.  To stop you from doing something stupid.  As usual.”  He kisses Keith on the forehead.  “And all the thanks I get is this tiny room and paltry servings of food _I_ have to prepare myself.”  He scoffs, “I know Athanie is out there somewhere, but she’s not answering my calls.  I do hope she hasn’t sided with her husband.  He’s a damn loyalist to my father.”

Lotor prattles on about the inadequate space, the inadequate food, the inadequate training facilities, and the inadequate lab equipment.  Keith buries his face in Lotor’s shoulder and naps.  Finally finding something like the quiet space he was looking for all morning.

* * *

 

 

Keith wakes up to the sound of Allura and Shiro’s raised voices.  He rolls over and puts a pillow on his head, but he can still make out the argument.

“That’s not fair to the coalition,” snaps Allura.  “We’re already housing you and a number of your supporters at great personal risk.”

“What risk,” says Lotor.  “I’ve given you a number trained fighter pilots and intimate knowledge of New Daibazaal and Galra Central Command!”

“And you’re still cording off the comet,” says Shiro.  “Having something like that unsecured on the castle is not what we agreed on.”

Keith sits up and looks at them all in the doorway, “Is there any way you can argue in the hall or something?”

Shiro gives him a soft look, “Hey man.  How are you feeling?”  He shoulders past Lotor and Allura does the same.  They sit on the bed.  Shiro pats Keith’s leg, “You look better.  You were kind of grey there earlier.”

“I’m good.  Just tired.  What’s all this talk about the comet?”

Lotor steps in front of the bed, “Your friends seem to think that I’m not sharing enough.”

“You’re not sharing at all!”  Allura gets in his face, “My father would never have trusted someone like you with such raw power.  And knowing you as we do…”

“Which isn’t much, is it?”  Lotor flips his hair.  For a second, Keith’s afraid they’ll have a dramatic, royal pose-off.  Again. The first one was an embarrassment for Keith, but he’s proud to say his boyfriend won.  “You’re jumping to conclusions. You and your backward crew are paranoid.”

“Let Slav look at it,” says Shiro.  He crosses his legs and looks thoughtfully with his head down.  “If anyone can assuage our fears about your research, it's him.”

“No,” snaps Lotor with his arms crossed.  "I'm not trusting that parasite with my equipment."

“Babe, come on,” sighs Keith.  “Stop being a brat about your stupid rock.”

“Babe,” says Allura making a face, “How on Arus… No, I don’t want to know.”

Shiro gets up and heads for the door, “We’ll talk later.  Come on Allura.  We have sims to run.  But the subject is not dropped.  If we want into that hanger, we’re getting in.”

Lotor looks at Keith, “You see what I have to put up with?  Don’t you have anything to say in my defense?”

Keith shrugs, “I’ll take Slav up to check on it myself.  If anything is wrong, you have my permission to lock him up.”

Lotor stares with his jaw hanging.

“What?  You once sicced the whole ship on me for disagreeing with you, remember?”

“That was different.  You were being unreasonable and contrary on purpose.”  Everyone stares at him and Lotor throws up his hands “Well!  He was!  And this is completely different!”

“Hardly,” says Keith. “We’re still in the same place.  It’s hard to trust you if you’re keeping secrets.  Let us in the door, and we won’t have to kick it down.”

Lotor crosses his arms and turns his back on all of them, “Trust you to be the brains behind bursting in… fine.  Fine.  I’ll give you a guided tour right now.  How does that sound?”

Shiro shrugs, “Better.”

Allura turns on her heel while Keith gets out of bed.  “Like he said.  Better.”  She walks out with hair flip and Keith can see Lotor twitching around the eyes.  She’s had the final word via gesture and it looks like its killing him.

Keith moves to follow them out the door but Lotor grabs him by the elbow, “No, you don’t get to come.  Stay put and rest your frayed nerves.  You’ll only make things worse.”

“What?  How could you say that?”

Lotor gives him a flat stare while backing out of the room, “I know what I’m talking about.  You talked them into giving me these shoddy quarters.  The last thing I need is for you to start talking me into more concessions.  Stay put, you little shit!”

Keith looks around the Lotor’s spacious living quarters, rivaled only by Allura’s own rooms.  “That damn spoiled asshole.”

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, Thanksgiving was crazy, and I wish I could fast-forward to post-Christmas and just enjoy the gifts.  
> I feel physically and emotionally exhausted. And still full of sweet of potato pie :P
> 
> Anyhooo...

Needless to say, Keith does not stay put.

He doesn’t follow Lotor for the tour, but a part of him trusts Lotor wouldn’t walk the leaders of the resistance into a trap onboard the ship.  Not now anyway, when he’s so outnumbered.  He’s sneaky and suspicious, but he’s not stupid.

Keith doesn’t go looking for trouble, but it finds him anyway.  Regris and Pidge drag him into their argument.  Regris takes him by the hand, “As of right now, he can decode anything with a touch of his hand.  It’s more productive!”

Pidge flips on some goggles and takes out a computer, “Right now there’s Galra, Alteans, Humans, Ereas, Olkari, Taurjeerians, Unilu, and about 59 other species united under the coalition.  And you want to limit our data sharing to _real_ DNA in markers in _one_ species?”

“Scanning with more sophisticated means…”

“Pffft!”  Pidge pulls out a weird looking pen with a green light and stabs Keith on the hand with it.

“OW!”  Keith leaps out of reach, but Regris, the traitor grabs him by the shoulder and holds his place.

“Hold still!”  Pidge scans him, her smile getting wider and wider as her computer beeps and bops.

“What did you just do?!”

“Don’t be such a baby, it was hardly a prick!  Ah-hah!  It’s done!  See!”  She shows Regris something on the screen and he seems to agree with her.  Keith backs away their argument before she puts any more holes in him.

* * *

 

Kolivan calls Keith to the docking bay when Allura and Lotor don’t answer his calls.  He comes down from a dock of a strange looking ship with his face looking tight, “Finally, someone.”  He rolls his eyes, and Keith wonders what could have the stoic leader _actually_ emoting.  “We’re about to pull out.  We have urgent business to take care of in the Aqualine outpost…  But we need to know.  Is this yours?”

He steps out of the way and Keith is knocked over.  He winds up being squeezed while a fanny pack digs into his ribs.  “Miyu!  It’s good to see you again.  I can’t breathe.”

“Piglet!”  Miyu shakes him until he’s dizzy.  “I missed you!  And to think after all we meant to each other!  You just up and left me to be fired by Prince Charming!  And then I got fired again by Zarkon!”

“Sorry to hear that, man.”

“Well, I’m not.  Zarkon’s finally gone over the hill.  Where’s my Prince Charming, Chuck?  I’m sure he’s in desperate need to get out of plebian rags.  I bought all of my equipment.”  He motions to where some resistance workers struggle to unload his ship.  “Show me to my new studio.  I’m going to refit everyone!  Starting with that ridiculous Voltron armor!  White on black with dashes of primary color!  Puh-lease!” 

Keith sighs and settles in for giving Miyu a tour.  Miyu talks and talks, and Keith’s sad to hear about his design studio moonbase and Galactic clothing label being Orange-Banded by the Galra fashion community.  “I’m sorry to hear that, Miyu.  I really am.  Maybe you can rebuild your brand with the coalition.  There’s actually been a lot of talk of presenting a more united front.  Maybe the first step is a new standard issue uniform.”

Miyu’s eyes sparkle and he takes up Keith in his arms for another bear hug, “Chuckie-Pie!  I really adore you, you know that!”

Keith pats the man on the back, “…sure.  But again, I’mma need oxygen.”

Miyu shakes him and deposits Keith on the ground then backs away, while looking him up and down, “Honey, what you need is more ombré.  And I’m thinking, pearl inlays.  Goggles with ruby studs!  Yes!  This is going to be spectacular!  I can’t wait to tell Prince Charming!”

* * *

 

Keith allows one mini-assessment.  Miyu is meticulous and critical of the Paladin armor while Keith models it.  But he gets plenty of ideas and Keith leaves Miyu to get settled.  When asked about their new guest, he tells everyone to give Miyu a visit and spread the word that a genuine celebrity has joined the cause.  It stirs some excitement in the castle, and Keith is happy that Miyu is getting plenty of attention and won’t need to kidnap him anytime soon for random measurements.

Soon after, Keith finds Shay covered in food goo exiting the commissary with high-pitched laughter.  “Whoa now,” he says with his hands up, “Don’t tell me that thing is possessed again.”

“Possessed?”  She shakes her head and splattered in goop.  “If you mean the Rite of Coalition Bonding has another name?”

“Say what,” says Keith looking into the room.  He laughs out loud at the sight of Hunk and about a dozen freedom fighters and Galra defectors handcuffed on either side of him and splattering Coran.  He bends over, laughing until his sides ache, “Oh this is priceless!”

Hunk salutes him, “No better way to bring people together, right.  Coran is playing the part of Princess.”  Obviously, thinks Keith.  Coran is dressed in a floor-length violet gown with a long white wig sitting crooked on his head.  He seems to be taking his duty as Princess very seriously and firing precise shots at the enemy combatants.  Hunk laughs while proudly pointing at himself, “And I’m Keith.”  He grins with all his teeth and Keith shakes his head.  The more things change, the more they… honestly get more ridiculous.   He smiles at them all before backing out and avoiding a redo initiation.

* * *

 

The Castle of Lions is so full of hopeful energy, and Keith feels… things.  Being in his paladin armor doesn’t help.  And walking the castle he thought he was walking away from…  He can’t shake feeling… things.

His legs take him in the direction where he knows the comet is still being experimented on, and he’s content to take the long way there and avoid the bickering and pose-offs.

But in this moment, he’s kind of happy.  He thinks he might have the name for what he was feeling.  He’s feeling hopeful.  Like the stuff is contagious now, with such a victory under their belts and so many allies to rally.  He’s happy to be surrounded by friends and family.  He has Lotor…  It’s not an outcome he ever thought possible.  He never saw himself as part of the whole picture.  But it’s different now.  He’s not just a warm body piloting the lion, even as just a backup pilot for Voltron now.  He’s still a Paladin.   Even as a new initiate, he’s needed with the Blade of Marmora.  Keith finds himself contemplating the future and thinking of the past and the winding road that lead him here.  And he smiles to himself.   “We can do this.  Together, we can do this.  We’re going make the universe safe.  We’re going to bring Earth into the coalition.  Everything is going to work out.  Lance might even still have a shot at that cat lady…”

Keith stops in his tracks, the smile dropping off his face as he hears screaming.  Shiro yells, “Slav get over there and help him!  Someone call up Pidge and Coran!  We have to get this under control!”

Keith runs for the hanger.  The doors fly open before he gets there, as two rebel techs and one of Lotor’s scientist run out of the bay.  The room is full of pinkish light and everyone is shouting over a strange thumping, warbling noise.  Keith doesn’t get in the way, but he has to know what’s going on.  He runs over to Shiro at a console, “What happened down here?  I thought you were just getting a tour!”

“Your boyfriend’s an asshole!”

“I know!  But what does that have to do with anything!”

“They went inside!”  Shiro looks ready to pull his own out.  He points and paces and shouts orders and points again.

“What the hell is that?”  Keith looks directly what’s causing all the stress, and quietly curses himself for letting the universe lull him into a moment of peace.  The comet floats above swirling vortex, in the center of a ring of tech.  All of this screams ‘Evil Boyfriend Was Here’ and Keith wishes Lotor was around to punch in the neck.  Then the realization hits him like a brick.  “Wait, is Lotor and Allura in that thing?!”

An Olkari engineer looks frantic, “It’s too unstable!  We have to recover them quickly before it closes.  It won’t remain constant enough for two-way passage much longer!”

Keith moves forward automatically, but Shiro claps a hand on his shoulder.  “Hang back.  I want that fully assessed before we lose any more people.”

Pidge and Hunk come to the doors before Keith can get closer, dressed in their Voltron armor.  Pidge moves to the console while Hunk moves to the vortex.  Pidge shouts, “The rate it's going, we’ve about two hours to reset the connection and stabilize it from our end.”

Hunk kneels down by the ring, “Honestly, the gate needs to shut down on the other side.  Lotor would know that, right?  Something must have happened on their end.  We have to find out what.  Do you think a drone could send us a signal?”

Matt and Regris come in the lab and everyone is throwing scientific jargon into the air.  Keith’s caught on to two things.  One being, Allura and Lotor are on the other side.  And two being, the gate is closing.  Keith takes a deep breath and puts on his helmet and runs forward.

“Keith, no!”

“I’ll be the drone.”

Keith hears everyone screaming for him not to do the thing.

He does the thing anyway.

 

 

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

Keith opens his eyes on the other side of the hole and shakes off a feeling of intense cold.  He looks around and finds himself in a gray-walled storage room… somewhere.  All evidence of the portal is gone.  He tries his communicator and gets static, “Guys?  Anyone there?  Shiro?  Allura?”  He turns on a light and looks around the darkness for an exit.  When finally finds one he shrugs, “This isn’t so bad.  If we can’t get out through the wormhole, we can get to a ship.  As soon as I find that asshole.”

He wanders through the halls not finding anyone or anything to tell him where he is in the dark.  Until he hears footsteps and sees a familiar silhouette.  Keith sighs in relief and runs forward, throwing his arms around Lotor’s neck.

“You, asshole!  Where’s Allura?  Where the hell are we?  Why is it so dark here?  What the hell where are you doing?  Did you cut your hair since this morning?  What the hell is going on?”

Lotor slams Keith into the wall, “How dare you—”

Keith slaps his hand away, “Don’t start shit with me now, asshole!  I was worried sick about you!”

Lotor stops and looks down at Keith with a puzzled look, “What are you going on about Red Paladin?”

Keith rolls his eyes, “You don’t even know what you did this time, do you?  Pidge said we only have two hours before your stupid portal thing closes and they’re all back at the castle freaking out about you being lost in some pocket dimension or something.  Not… not… where the hell are we anyway?”

“Maura.”

“Right!  So, it’s just a matter of finding a ride home if you can’t fix your thing.  Hey, where’s Allura?”

“The Princess?”

“No the potato, asshole.”  Keith taps his foot and crosses his arms, “Honestly, you’re so useless sometimes.  Did you hit your head when you fell in?”

Lotor is slow to answer and Keith frowns up at him, now feeling genuinely worried about his bondmate.

“Hey, babe.   I’m just riding you here, but honestly.  Are you okay?  You didn’t get hurt or anything?  Your brain didn’t melt into soup?”  Keith wraps his arms around Lotor’s neck and gives him a gentle peck on the cheek.   He pulls away, with his nose scrunching, “Geeze, you smell like you fell in a vat in old ladies.”  He shakes the weird feeling, more worried than uncomfortable.  “I’m sorry I didn’t take your side earlier.  But you understand right?  I can't let this thing between us mess with my focus.  And if we want the same things, we have to get better at being on the same page.”

Lotor doesn’t answer but leans into Keith touch.  Keith smiles with it, thinking they haven’t had sex since he broke into his rooms in the Blade’s command ship.  He tilts his head and Lotor scratches just the top of his head.  “You’re like some sort of argumentative pet cat.”

Keith grins and ducks his head, “Well, I could make it up to you, if you hurry up and get us home.”  He blinks up at Lotor, smiling, “I’ll even do that thing you like in the shower.”

“Really?”  Lotor raises a brow while his hands explore Keith’s face like he’s seeing it for the time.  He thumbs trace Keith's mouth and Keith gives the tips of each finger a kiss.

“Really, really,” says Keith while laughing at Lotor’s stupefied look.  He kisses his boyfriend on the nose before pulling away, “Come on and take me to Allura.  You do know where she is right?”

“I know there was a disturbance on this deck, and one a few floors below it.”  Lotor yanks Keith's hand and pulls him close again, “Tell me, why exactly are you here, Red Paladin?”

“To rescue you, you big dick, idiot.”  Keith gives his hand a squeeze, “It’s not big deal to you, but you’ve got our people worried we fell down a hole we can’t come back from.”  Lotor tugs and leads Keith to an elevator.  Keith feels more impatient now that he’s sure nothing wrong.  “I can’t wait to get back.  I had like this epiphany.  Don’t give me that look!  I mean it.  I think we’re all in a good place now.  I’m not… I don’t know… scared to fail.  Well, no.  I’m terrified of letting everyone down, but I just… feel like the weight on my shoulders is a little less, you know.”

Lotor looks bored with his little revelation, “And this is news?”

Keith punches the taller man in the shoulder, “Stop being a prick!  I’m serious here.  I was thinking about a lot of things.  What you said about me being a special little fairy Galra.  Mae Drule, pah,” Keith scoffs but he seems to have Lotor’s full attention.  “Oh stop, you’re practically drooling!”  He rolls his eyes, feeling annoyed with Lotor’s weird breeding fetishes and kinks.  “I was thinking about what we can do after.  After the war and everything settles.  If you and I are still together… I mean… If you want to have kittens or something?”  Keith feels his face turning red and covers it with his hands, “Oh god!  Did I say that out loud?!”

“You did.  Kittens?”

“You know!  The whole… serious thing.  If that’s where this is headed… after a real wedding and not just marathon or public sex.  When we’re not so busy.  I know you don’t like kids but… I’ve just been thinking… I like having a family.  And maybe… kind of… I want one.  With you.”  Keith swallows a lump in his throat while still his face.

The elevator opens into another dark corridor and Keith hazards a look up at Lotor for his reaction.  And finds him looking strangely at Keith’s middle. 

Keith covers his belly, “Not me!  You!  Remember?!  You totally said I could knock you up sometime!”

Lotor laughs and the sound rings out in the limited space before he grabs Keith’s hand, “You certainly have my attention now!”

“You’re being weird.”  Keith follows him into a room that looks like survived a fire.  There are parts and wires and coils and the smell of charred electronics.  Keith covers his nose.  “What the hell happened in here?”

They stop just inside the doorway as Allura voice yells, “I’ll say it again!  Buffoonery!  Absolute buffoonery!  If you weren’t so such a cocky, arrogant, showboating disaster, we wouldn’t be in this mess!”

“Allura!”  Keith pulls Lotor along, “There you are!  What’s going on in here?”

Allura looks up at them, she’s standing over some kind service opening in the floor right under a floating ring that looks like the thing Keith jumped in at the castle.  She smiles at Keith but then screams and does a doubletake.  She looks at the floor and back at Keith, “Wha… How in the world!  Who is that?!”

Keith frowns and looks behind himself and Lotor, “What?  What do you mean?”

“Is that Keith?”  Says a voice from the hole.  Keith freezes as another Lotor comes up, grease-stained with his long hair in a bun.  “Darling, what are you doing here?”

Keith stares at them with wide eyes, hesitating to look behind him.  “Babe.  You’re over there...”

“Who in Arusian Jaygal is that?” Says Allura pointing while Lotor climbs out of the hole and draws his weapon.

Keith turns on the copy that’s been keeping him company.  The copy he kissed when he didn’t know better.  “Who the fuck!”

“A Mae Drule, you say,” grins the copy.  He moves fast enough to disarm Keith and put him in a chokehold. “One learns something new every day.  Though I doubt the creature I call Red Paladin in this universe is anything so interesting.”  He kisses Keith on the top of the hair, “Care to elaborate now on your little shower trick?  I might be persuaded to let your friends here live.  Although,” he turns his sinister grin on the others, “Having two Princesses and whatever you are, seems like a fine addition to my collection.” 

“Unhand my Consort!”

The doppelganger has the gall to wink at Lotor, “And I’m not sure yet, but you.  Perhaps I’ll scar you enough to make the difference plain, but why not.  Imitation is the best form of flattery.”

Keith stops struggling to get free, “Fuck!  Who are you?  What are you doing here?”

The copy nips at the tip of Keith’s ear, “What happened to all the familiarity?  I thought we were getting along fine.  Though it is a shame you don’t even know my name.”

“I give zero fucks about what your name is,” starts Keith.  He squirms, hoping he’ll get his arm free to get his blade and turn it on the bastard.  But he sees Allura and Lotor pressing forward.  So, he changes tactics, “I should have known you weren’t my boyfriend.  He never smells like a damn perfume factory.  What the hell did you do?  Bathe in a pool of old lady doilies?”

The doppelganger nips his ear again, “Hush now, I think you protest too much.  You seemed desperate to be close just out in the hall.  I could have had you, then and there.  What about now?  What if we made them watch?”

“Watch this,” says Allura while jumping up and Lotor flips backward into the hole.  He throws up a metallic cube that opens up and hovers.  Allura grabs the thing and plugs it into the circle.  There’s rumbling, the warbling Keith heard in the castle and energy dispelled from the wormhole reconnecting knocks Keith and the doppelganger backward.  He scrambles to get on his feet, but the copy grabs him by the ankle.

“You aren’t going anywhere, new friend.”

“Hands off!”  Lotor kicks the man’s hand away, “I’d break your face in if you weren’t such a handsome bastard!”  He pulls Keith to just under the vortex.  “Up now.  I’ll give you a leg up.”  

“I’m not leaving you.”

“I’ll be fine.  I can make that jump easily.  But you are vertically challenged.  Therefore,” is all he says before grabbing Keith by the neck.  Keith has little choice but to go with it, jumping up and stepping on Lotor’s shoulder up into the portal.

He lands with a thud on the other side.  Pidge and Hunk drag him away from the event horizon.  Allura looks over it, “There were two of them!  How do we know which one is the real one?”.

Shiro and Slav come over.  Shiro helps Keith up, “What are you talking about?  What happened?”

Slav cries, “I knew today was going to be this kind of horrible.  I just knew it, statistics and probability aside, I knew it the moment the pompous fool said ‘space-time’ and started whining about his mommy!”

“What are any of you talking about,” Keith gets up stands over the hole, “Lotor!  Get your ass up here!”

“He can’t hear you, Keith!  He’s in another universe,” says Allura.  “Why didn’t he follow you up?  What happened to the other one?”

“The other what,” says Shiro.  He looks lost, but keeps a hand on Keith’s chest, holding him back.  “What happened now?  Someone needs to start filling me in, right this second!”

Before anyone can say another word, the portal opens again and out comes Lotor.  Or the Doppelganger.  Keith frowns, stepping close and smelling the air around the fallen body.  He grins, “No old lady smell! Babe, your musk is fine!”

Lance stares him, “Is this a sex thing?  Have you tricked us on into participating in some weird sex thing, Keith, you damn freak!  Shame on you!  There are children present!  Cover your eyes Hunk!”

Hunk rolls his eyes while Pidge rushes to the console.  She and Slav power down the comet until the wormhole collapses and everyone sighs in relief.

Lotor opens his eyes and sits up, pointing at Allura, “I told you it worked fine!”

Allura points, “I told you, you’re crazy!”

Keith sits on his heels and looks between them, “What was that?  Where were we?  And why was there two of you?”

Lotor gets to his feet and sighs, “That wasn’t me. That was another possibility.  We are nothing alike if you hadn’t noticed.  I’m smarter, better dressed, and far betting looking.”

“Full of the same hot air,” snaps Allura while walking away.

Lotor points at her, “And in that universe, your duplicate was probably as ugly as…”

“Don’t.”  Keith covers Lotor mouth while the others all turn to glare at them.  “Don’t ever, ever, ever insult our Princess.  If everyone here starts kicking your ass, I’m sorry.  But I’d have to help to kick your ass too.”

“Gah!”  Lotor throws up his hands stomps away.

Keith wants to go after but stops at the sight of Slav reclining on the control console with a milkshake.  The alien smirks at him and continues slurping.  Keith shakes his head at the surreal and leaves to get the full story from Lotor while everyone in the room starts to raise their voices again.


	4. Chapter 4

Keith finds Lotor in his bedroom surrounded by holographic projections of his data.  He hangs back by the door and sighs, “I’m not saying it again.  I feel like I’ve been saying it for hours.”

“What?”

“What’s going on!?”  Keith feels like pulling his hair out.  He comes into the room and sits on the bed, watching Lotor dash at the screens and scribble and type before scrapping his work all over again.  “And what are you doing?”

“I have to start all over again.  I failed.  Again.  And your damned Princess was keen to rub my nose in it.”

“Where were we?  The other you, the Not Lotor, he said it was Maura.  Does this have anything to do with the thing the Blade was tracking?  You were sending shipments to that moon, right?”

“I was.  In an earlier experiment, I successfully used two fragments of the comet to bend time and space between that point and a lab I have elsewhere.  It’s how I’ve supplied quintessence for most of my experiments.  But it’s gone awry again.”

“You said your friends abandoned you after your last experiment.”  Keith's eyes track to Lotor’s shoulder.  The night after they took Naxella, he rubbed ointments on Lotor’s back and shoulders while he told him what happened.  Lotor walked around like he was fine, but he was still bruised, and he complained of aches in the middle of the night.  And he missed his people, too.  But he walks around the Castle like he couldn’t be better.  Smirking like he planned the whole thing.  Keith sighs, knowing the arrogant prick isn’t going to just ask for help.  He’ll have to be bullied into it.  “Let us help you, Lotor.”  Lotor rolls his eyes and Keith bristles at the dismissal.  Perhaps, he is not the brains in the family, but he does have resources.  “I mean it!  Maybe your experiment is above my pay grade, but we have Pidge.  We have Hunk and Coran and Regris.  You don’t have to do everything on your own anymore.  It scares me to think you don’t trust us.  And it hurts to think we still can’t trust you… You’re not just playing me, right?”

Lotor sighs and turns everything off and turns to focus on Keith.  “If I were planning something nefarious… honestly, I would have taken you, the comet, and my research far away to progress in peace.  I don’t _need_ your people, Keith.  But you’re here.  And you won’t leave them, will you?”  Keith gives him a weak shake of his head.  Lotor joins him on the bed, “Well then, that’s all to it.  I can’t go where you’re not.”  He strokes the hair over Keith’s ear.  Keith flinches, remembering the sharp teeth that closed around the tips of his ears.  Lotor’s hands move down to rub his shoulders, “Are you alright?  You’re shaking.”

Keith pulls away, thinking of how he was duped, “I should have known something was up.  The conversation was so damn one-sided.”

“That’s normal.  You never shut up.”

Keith wants to laugh and call him a prick, but he feels tears welling up in eyes and tries hiding his face in hands.  “That’s right.  When I’m with you, I just get going and keep going, huh?  And I did back there.  I started… he didn’t _smell_ _right,_ and I pushed anyway.  I… I kissed him…”

“Hey now,” says Lotor pulling his hand down.  “Are you ashamed of our fantastic and aerobic sex lives?”

Keith smirks, “No… but I…”

“Hush,” says Lotor pulling him close, “There’s no point in feeling guilty about a minor misunderstanding with a clearly inferior duplicate.  I’ve made you a wanton hussy after all.  You simply can’t help yourself.”

Keith finally laughs, “You’re such an asshole.”

“It’s a wonder we ever leave this room.”

Keith nods, “But it’s a been a while.  You were really good to me and patient.  And I said some things.  To the Not You and I’m scared maybe… what if he uses that against the rebellion there?  What if he uses it against the other me?”

“Permission to sound completely evil?”

“No.”

“I don’t care,” says Lotor anyway.  “I don’t care about their universe or their timeline or their Keith or their Zarkon.  All I care about in all of space and time is right here.  And fits perfectly in my arms.”

“I hope you’re talking about me, and not that stupid pillow.”  The pillow is a whole thing, thinks Keith.  Allura almost kicked them both out over the pillow.

“The pillow is not stupid.  Graymaya feathers are rare and precious and the only thing that can put me to sleep.  Besides a certain little red pilot, of course.  Come here,” He pulls Keith into his lap.  And whispers ‘I love you’ against his lips.

Keith shies away from it like he always does, but Lotor says it again and again until that spark of hope Keith was fostering this morning is back.  He lets the words slide into his mouth and mimics before kissing Lotor quickly.  “I’m trying.  I don’t know how to… say it again.”  He sits up higher, forehead touching Lotor’s, “Show me.  Say it again.”

Lotor holds him up, “I love you.”

“Again,” says Keith while working on Lotor clothes.  Lotor lets him take the wheel, striping them both while Lotor hangs onto him and breathlessly repeats ‘I love you’s between kisses.

Keith kisses back and the words are hard to say but easy to swallow.  Its gets easier to take and take and take.  And he does that night, riding Lotor with his head thrown back whispering sentiments and wishing to never see another doppelganger in his life.

* * *

The next morning, Keith wakes up with Lotor’s cum drying between his legs and resolves to get himself checked out before this whole ‘mating’ thing gets out of hand.  He knows the man by smell now, and that’s just so damn primal, and weird he can’t quite wrap his head around it.

Keith holds his legs up from under the knees while getting inspected by Regris.  Regris agreed to stay behind and help with the Comet analysis. But he practically leaped at the chance to get Keith naked on an exam table.  Keith thinks there may be a bet involved.

“The prince is very right,” sighs Regris after almost twenty-ticks of poking and prodding Keith with his instruments.  “The chance of you carrying is very slim.”

“Slim?  Not non-existent?”

“Well… that’s a complicated matter.  And it seems your system is saturated with very up-scale anti-fertility drugs.  They don’t wear off for months at a time.”

“Right.  That crap Athanie fed me.  That means… I can’t carry.  But what about…”

“Your reproductive organs are in a kind of sleep mode.  Nothing is working as it should until your next cycle starts.  I think you just ended one.”

“Yeah, that’s how I got into this mess.”

“Well then.  You have nothing to worry about,” smiles Regris.  “At least for… oh, fourteen more days.  Then you’ll need more anti-fertility drugs.  There are also permanent alterations.  If you’d prefer, I could oversee a surgery…”

“No.  I’m good.  I think.  Just, um… let me know before I um… cycle?”

“Vebulate Nikol.”

“Whatever.  Let me know.”

“Sure.  Are you and the Prince trying to spawn in the meanwhile?”  He looks a little hopeful and Keith is certain there’s a bet involved.

“No.  We are not trying to _spawn_ anything.  I just wanted to be sure.  Thanks for the… exam.  I’ve got work to do.” He gets up to get dressed and Regris lets him save his results on his computer.  Keith compares it to what he saved from Lotor’s research and looks for any sign the Prince has ever lied to him.  And finds it all lines up.  He breathes a little easier, thinking at least he knocked another thing he wasn’t quite sure about trusting Lotor with, off his list of reasons not to trust him. 

But he’s not going to tell anyone about that anytime soon.

* * *

 

 

Everyone is focused on the comet and Lotor reluctantly agrees to allow outside help.  They settle down on Naxella’s surface and Lotor calls in for more of his people from across the galaxy.  He finally sits everyone down and explains things.  He locks eyes with Keith, “I told you my mother was an Altean slave.  And that is partly true.”

Keith crosses his arms, “I’m listening.  I’m all settled in, bring on the bullshit.”

“The truth is… Honerva is my mother.”

Lance leaps to his feet, “I knew it!  They have the same dramatic forelock!”

“Sit down, Lance!”  Allura tugs his ear until he complies, “We suspected you were her son.  But how is it… that is to say… I was frozen for the last ten thousand years….  Were you born during the first war?”

Lotor sighs, “I was born before the fall of Daibazaal.  My father sent me away while they tried to save the planet.  I was a boy when I heard your father announce their deaths.  My guardians were en route to return me to lead our people when Zarkon and Haggar awoke and started the war.  My guardians hid me for almost a whole year.  The woman who raised me was Altean.  And she became a slave when Altea was declared our enemy.   And she was murdered for asking for mercy.”

“I’m sorry to hear that Lotor, truly,” says Allura with a bowed head.

“Not as sorry as I am.  I loved both my mothers.  But it became clear… Honerva was gone.  And Haggar the witch was cruel.  She treated me like an experiment when she paid attention to me at all.”

Keith narrows his eyes.  He has to be the one to challenge Lotor and test him, bringing him in as an ally makes the prince his responsibility.  So he pushes, even when doesn't want to.  He leans, “Before you were almost bloodthirsty about capturing her.  You wanted to end her…”

“I wanted to save her!”

Keith gets up from his seat, seeing something vulnerable break in Lotor he’s not sure the Prince meant to share.   Perhaps, thinks Keith, that was too much. “It’s okay.  Just tell us what happened.”

Lotor slumps forward, “I wasn’t strong enough to do anything in this reality.  She spies on me… they’ve put me on ice before to keep me from usurping them.  I built up the façade of a perfect obedient prince and I worked for years to rebuild the gate they abandoned… but it failed.  You have to understand, that thing is not my mother.  Zarkon is not my father.  They’re possessed by a force that crawled out of the temporal cracks.  I thought perhaps if I could get them both back, harness the riff’s energy and the purity of the quintessence, I could draw the creature out.  I could save them.  I could usher in a new era of prosperity and peace.  I could do anything if the blasted thing worked!   But I failed.  Time and time again.  I failed.”

Keith doesn’t hesitate to wrap his arms tight around Lotor, and Lotor leans in like he exhausted himself, just letting it out.

Pidge stands up, “But your gate to Maura.  That kind of works as intended, right?”

Lotor nods.  He straightens himself up and backs away, visibly hardening himself again.  All poise and pomp and arrogance.  Even as Keith’s heart breaks for him, he’s sure the whole thing was also a show designed to gain the others’ sympathy.  Lotor projects a layout on the screens, “It’s the first experiment that failed, years and years ago.  That particular ring opened from my primary labs, and we couldn’t close it down.  It is impossible to detect without knowing its there, so we decided to harness it.  It feeds off the energy of the riff, and perhaps can never be shut down.”  He shows them coordinates, “This is my primary lab.  It’s on the edges of my old territory.  My father would have reclaimed it by now and Haggar would have dismantled the operation there.  But they know nothing about the portal or Maura.  And there’s a chance its still secure.  The data collected from that experiment on the riff is worth its weight in…

“Gold,” says Lance.  “Platinum?  Something shiny and heavy I presume?”

“I was going to say Shira Gas, but whatever.  It’s very important.  I’ve sent a scouting party ahead.  And now… I want your help in retrieving it, Paladins of Voltrons.”


	5. Chapter 5

Over the next few days, many of the hybrids from Eche answer.  They bring Lotor materials smuggled out before Zarkon re-took the planet.  There’s still no word from Athanie, but some of Lotor’s harem and inner circle have arrived.  Including the Gatodai Mind Speaker.  Keith doesn’t have time to be jealous or suspicious that Lotor is working closely with a number of people he used to sleep with.  Not when he’s watching the train wreck that is Lance’s love life.  But he didn’t expect to be riding the rails, as it were.   

Early one morning Keith and Lance find themselves discovering the most horrible thing they could imagine.  Matt Holt, survivor, rebel spy, and genius engineer, is also really, really likable. 

Matt gestures wildly with one hand while doing technical wizardry with the other and talks up a storm in the comet lab.  “So, my little sis knocked that right out of the park!”

Keith volunteered to stay behind from a recon mission Shiro went on because he’s become aware of a new Holt-sized problem.  He’d hate to say it, but he agrees with Lance about one thing.  The genius bastard is just too smooth for his own good.  Keith sits with his arms crossed, not actually helping as he stares, “How is bragging about his awesome little sister doing _this_?  That’s not even fair.  She's our awesome little sister, too.”

Lance nods as they suffer through the disgusting display of laughter and congeniality.  Lotor has been in a surprisingly pleasant mood since Matt started helping with this project.  Allura has been agreeable and open to Lotor’s plans.  While Matt is in the room.

Keith and Lance sit shoulder to shoulder and monitor the buddy-buddy talk that neither of them like.  Matt winks and fires finger guns and Allura laughs a lilting, girlish giggle.  Keith cringes and turns to Lance in sympathy, “I don’t know where that came from.”

Lance sobs, “He’s charming the pants off them!  How is this possible!”  He writhes in his chair and pulls his hair.  Keith’s afraid for a moment that he’ll do permanent damage.  Lance looks to Keith with big, sad eyes, “I’ve tried all my best lines, even the best line in the whole universe and she never ever fake-giggles at them!”

Keith scratches his head watching as Matt has an ‘aha’ moment with what he’s working on and gets a hearty clap on the shoulder from Lotor.  Keith’s right eye twitches at the sight, “Its some kind of witchcraft.  What do we do about witchcraft?”

Lance pulls out his computer, “My Gram-gram would know!  I’mma call her!  Wait, no.  Accepting intergalactic phone charges will run her phone bill up.  And her light bill.  Quiznak.”

Hunk plops two heaps of drone parts in their laps, “Maybe you two lay-abouts could actually help instead of you know, laying about.  I hear royal chicks dig competency.”

Lance scoffs, “ _Chhha,_ yeah right.  Who told you that?”

Keith nods, “Yeah everyone knows royal chicks like a project to fix.  Look at Lotor, he’s always trying to dress me up and tell me what to do and fix my table manners.  And comb my hair.  Ughh!  It’s exhausting, but he prefers having something to work on, duh.”

Lance takes out a notebook, “Ah huh, ah huh.  So, what you’re saying is I have to be _less_ perfect, so the Princess thinks she has to fix me.  Great stuff.  I’ll put this into effect immediately.”

Hunk stares at them with his mouth hanging for a beat.  When he recovers he gives them a flat stare, “Guys.  Seriously.  The contradiction to your statement is right over there,” Hunk points to where Allura and Lotor are both laughing at something Matt said and praising him for his work.

Keith snatches Lance’s notebook, “Don’t worry we’ll figure this out.  I know some tricks, but I don’t think they apply for ‘still just a crush’.  When I want I sex or something I just get it.”

“We get it, man.  You don’t have to rub it in.”  Lance complains but still hands over his pen.

“Actually, rubbing is kind of integral to the whole process.”

“I can’t unhear that.  Hunk, take my brain and throw it out with the garbage.”

* * *

 

After exhausting their talk about The Matt Holt Problem, Keith decides to confront Matt around lunch that day.  He finds him lounging by Lotor and talking excitedly about portals and other dimensions.  Keith cracks his knuckles and decides to play it cool and just be as honest and straight-up as he can.  “Yo.  Hey man.”

“Bro,” nods Matt.  He doesn’t look up from his plate.  Lotor is sitting beside him looking at the two of with a confused frown.

“Dude,” nods Keith.  Keith sighs and waves his hand, “Like.  You know.”  He draws out the ‘know’ hoping to not come across as whiny but firmly putting his foot down.

“Totally.”  Matt raises his hands, in a clear act of submission.  Keith is pleased with it and gives him a subtle half smile and nod.

Lotor frowns at them both, “Is this some kind of earthling sign language?”

Keith shrugs, “It’s cool.”

“Pound it?”  Matt offers his hand and they fist bump.

Lotor drops his spoon, “I am going elsewhere.  Let me know when you’re done, darling.”  He kisses Keith on the forehead and walks out.

Matt rubs his chin thoughtfully, “My bad.”

* * *

 

They have a long and mostly productive work day and when everyone is ready to retire for the night, the paladins, Lotor, Matt, Coran and some of the rebel leaders meet on the bridge to square away their plans for the next day. 

Keith stands close to Lotor while he updates everyone on the progress of his scouts.  Lotor opens a comm link, “Ninety-four, are you there?”

_“Here, Your Majesty.  We’re still a varga out from the next the outpost.  We ran into some trouble from Zarkon’s scouts.”_

“Are you being followed?”

_“No sir, the problem was eliminated.  Shall we continue as planned?”_

Lotor mutes the link and looks to everyone present, “Haggar could be tracking the ships if they engaged in a battle with her droids.  Their ships aren’t equipped with anything that can detect or destroy her trackers.”

Shiro frowns, “You could have mentioned this earlier.”

Lotor rolls his eyes, “It’s a recon mission.  They’re supposed to go unnoticed.”  He flips the link back on, “Pilot Ninety-four, I want you to hold your positions.  We’ll rework the route and send it to you shortly.”

_“Understood, Your Majesty.”_

“Good.  Do not engage in battle again.  If you must, return to Naxella.”

_“Yes, Your Majesty.”_

Lotor signs off and turns to Allura, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

Allura grins, “That depends if our chief conspirator is ready and willing.”

Keith frowns, “What?  Did I miss something?”  He looks to Lance, “How could you let conspiring happen without letting me know?”

Lance shrugs, “We were busy with more important matters.”

Speak of the devil, think Keith.  Matt ducks down under the main console and comes up with two devices, “Ready and Willing, Princess!”  He puts one module down on the floor in front of Lance and with a push of the button, Lance disappears.

Keith blinks with his mouth hanging open before asking, “Can I have one of those?”

Lotor brings Lance back, pushing a button on the second device.  Lance stands there shivering.  “WHAT WAS THAT!!  WHERE WAS I?  WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME?!”

Lotor pats him on the back and frost falls from Lance’s hair.  “My primary lab’s equipment was put into a storage facility.  They didn’t know what to make of it or have yet to break the encryption.  And thanks to a genius plan…”

Hunk raises a hand, “That’s me.  I’m the genius,” He grins with all his teeth.  “But its simple, really.  We’re just hijacking the never-ending portal’s energy and enveloping a pocket of space around a subject, i.e. Lance or whoever.  Essentially we have an inter-dimensional teleporter.  No, please.  Hold your applause.”

Pidge comes up with her stabby pen.  “And the best part is, we’re the only ones who can use it.  I’ve sequenced a unique genome marker for the coalition to use as secondary encryption.  So, if Zarkon gets his hands on the portal, he won’t be able to activate it like we’re doing.”

Matt rubs his shoulder, “Yeah, I just wish I knew all of that like two hours ago when you stabbed me.”

Pidge pushes her glasses up her nose and turns on the other Paladins and leaders, “And now it’s your turn, fellas.  Get in line.”  She grins and clicks the end of little weaponize pen.

“Na-uh,” says Hunk turning, leading the way as he and Lance try to evade her.

Keith raises a hand, “Is this the thing you got me with?”

“Yes.”

“Then I’m good right?”

“Yes.  Now help me get the others.”  She looks like the part of a mad scientist and Keith is so proud of her.

The coalition leaders and Hunk and Lance look like they are heading for the door.  Keith grins and blocks the exit with his blade drawn.

Lance screams, “You traitor!”

* * *

They suit up the next morning and everyone takes a test drive with the portal, learning Lotor’s access code-breaking algorithm to deal with the constantly changing encryption he has on his stuff.  They go one at a time at first and then risk a final test, with everyone using the portal at once.

They shiver in the cold storage room and assess the situation.  Pidge scans the doorway, “We’re locked in.  I’m detecting a barrier that’s almost five feet deep.  That’s one heavy ass door.”

“Pidge!”  Matt claps his sister on the shoulder, “Did I raise you to use that kind of language.”

She smiles, “Damn straight.”

The paladins and Matt all laugh, but Lotor hushes them.  “Don’t draw attention to this space.  We don’t want to alert anyone.  The fact is, they’ve isolated it completely to keep me from getting in.  There’s no record of who’s guarding it.”

“Damn!”

Allura rolls her eyes, “It was cute the first time, but you don’t want to be vulgar.”

Hunk adds, “Says the quiznaking Princess.”  Allura gives him a flat stare and he bends down to see what bothering Pidge.  “Hey is that?  Oh no.”

“Oh yes,” says Pidge.  “We have to go.  The pocket field is closing in around itself and becoming unstable.  It’s… tearing apart.  We strained it with this much matter.”

Lotor sighs as he and Matt remotely reset the modules to send them back, “That’s what we were afraid of.  It’ll be impossible to get any of my equipment out of here. Or bring any in to start the main storage buffer up.”

Keith feels a weird prickling at the back of his neck, “I have a bad feeling.  Let’s get going now.”

Matt and Lotor send them all home.  Pidge and Hunk start diagnostics and corroborate data collected from their big jump with Coran.  Coran twirls his mustache and shakes his head, “That was a lucky one Number Five if my readings are right, the field was destabilizing.  Who knows what would have happened to you.  I’m glad you’re back safe.” 

He steps down to give Allura a hug a and she squeezes him, then replies, “I’m glad too, but I wish that mission had been more fruitful.  I was so hoping we could use this new technology.”

“We can,” says Lotor almost desperately.  “We’ll figure it out.  And when we do, we’ll have the ability to be anywhere in the universe, maybe even time in the blink of an eye.  Zarkon will have no defense against this power.”

Lotor sounds so hopeful, Keith gives him a smile and takes him by the hand.  He wants to tell Lotor that he shares his hopes and he scared, but he wants things to turn out okay.  He wants another victory for the coalition.  He wants to stay by his side.  He squeezes Lotor’s hand and says it all with just, “Cool.”

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

“I’m a little teapot… short and stout!”

Keith smiles to himself and stretches in the bed.  Hearing Lotor singing that at random always makes his heart swell.  He turns over and looks up at Lotor getting dressed.  “Hey, you.  Any chance I can talk you into staying in here and fucking me through the mattress?”

“Tempting,” says Lotor like he’s actually thinking about it.  “But I have deadlines to meet.  And at least one of us must be responsible every day, remember?  Today is my turn.”

“Yeah, I forgot about that,” sighs Keith.  He sits up straight with a brilliant idea, “Hey!  What if I’m responsible today, too!  Then tomorrow we could both call out and stay in bed!”

Lotor grins and turns to kiss Keith on the top of the head, “Brilliant plan, little Red.  But you’re to go off with that miserly lion tamer tomorrow.  And I’ll be all by myself with work and that handsome little codebreaker…”

Keith throws a pillow, “Don’t even play like that.  I’m serious.  Or the pillow gets it.”

Lotor snatches the pillow, “How dare you?”  He throws it to side, “I’ll have to teach you a lesson before I go.”

Keith sighs and falls back dramatically, spreading his legs in the air.  “Finally!”

Lotor laughs while catching one leg and propping it on his shoulder.  “You asked for it.”

“Yes, repeatedly.”

Lotor takes advantage of their dress disparity.  It’s, kind of his favorite thing, thinks Keith.  Lotor shirtless with just his pants half-done up and Keith completely naked but still pink and fresh from his long shower the night before.  He was asleep before Keith came out and they spent the night close and keeping each other’s nightmares at bay.

Now Keith stretches under Lotor, presenting himself.  “I thought we were going to do this earlier.”  Lotor slips a finger in Keith’s hole, that’s still loose from his vigorous prep in the shower.  “And it’s only been like six hours.”

“Well,” says Lotor leaning over to grab some lube anyway, “Never say no to more lubrication.  I’m tired of telling you that, you little hothead.”  He takes his time stretching the hole while Keith sits up to suck and bite at Lotor’s chest.  He scratches all of Lotor’s favorite spots while Lotor kneads the flesh of his thigh with his free hand.  Keith moans while licking little circles around each nub and Lotor finally snaps.  He shoves Keith down and pulls his cock free of his pants, kneeling between Keith’s legs.  “Well, that’s enough of that.”

Keith grins and holds onto Lotor’s wrist, clenching around the fingers once before they slide out and Lotor wipes the excess lube on the sheets before falling on Keith and lining his cock up.  Keith laughs, “So much for that princely restraint.”

Lotor huffs against his neck, “With you, it's hardly possible.”  He bites down on Keith’s neck while sliding inside the ring of muscle.  He lets out a low moan and relaxes while spreading Keith’s legs farther.

Keith gasps with every stroke in and out, tugging his own cock, rocking back on Lotor’s cock.  It feels so good, he thinks.  Like it always does.  But it's somehow _different_ today.  This isn’t an experiment.  This isn’t especially kinky.  They’re not playing out any fantasies.  Neither of them is high or drunk.  Keith is just safe and warm and starting off a work day with the man he loves… And that last thing hits him like a ton of bricks.  But he doesn’t panic this time.  He’s surprised to find himself finally saying, “I love you.”   But he doesn’t hide his face or anything he looks on, confident and happy to finally have said it.

Lotor goes still on top of him strokes Keith’s hair back.  He stares down into his eyes, “Did you just?  Are serious?  This isn’t some orgasm-induced exclamation?   Like ‘oh god I love your cock’?  Is it me you’re talking about?”

Keith laughs and pull Lotor down for a kiss and says it easily this time, “I love you.  I love you very, very much.  The cock is just a bonus at this point.”

Lotor looks like he’s on the verge of crying and pulls out to sit back on his heels.  “Honestly?  That’s the most beautiful, wonderful thing anyone has ever told me mid-coitus.”

Keith gives him a smile, “Yeah?  Well, I believe you, asshole.  Come here.  You’re too far away.”

“Not anymore…”  He does his flashy little trick and the diadem ring Keith keeps tucked behind his ear appears in his hand.  Keith looks impressed this time and Lotor gives him a broad, genuine smile.  The thing expands to its full size and floats over to the top of Keith’s head.  “There.  My Consort, Proper.”

“Yeah okay.”  Keith pulls Lotor close again.  When they come together this time they keep their eyes locked.

Afterwards, they both rush out to take a shower and get ready for the day.  Sharing small kisses until they part for good.  Anyone else, Keith would say it was a sickening display of PDA.  And it probably is.  But Keith loves it.

It’s almost two hours later when someone asks him about the diadem.  Keith blushes, but he doesn’t rush to take it off and put it back in it's hiding place.  He resizes it and wears it proudly on his finger.

* * *

 

Later, Slav looks at the thing Keith’s been working on at his workstation in Hunk’s lab and sighs.

Keith slams his tools down, “Okay.  What is it this time, Professor?  Is it not shiny enough?  Did I assemble it too close to the solder?”

Slav scratches his chin, and paces with four arms behind his back, “It's nothing… It's everything.”

Keith slumps, “I’m trying to make myself useful here before my next mission.  If you’re not going to help, get lost.  And if you say anything ominous or weird I’m taking this hot iron to your eye.”

“Violence is not always the answer.  Sometimes it takes understanding.  Sometimes it takes strategically place piercings.  Who knows, really.  But my own chances of surviving the next two hours greatly increase if I make sure your improvised engineering skills are much improved.”

Keith starts to get up and ignore the little worm, but a distant roar from Black Lion echoes in his head.  He sighs and turns back around, “Fine.  Teach me something new, Professor.”

“To start with.  This is all wrong…”

Keith slams his head on the table but keeps his seat and listens anyway.

* * *

 

 

Keith decides to celebrate the end of his class with a blowjob and goes in search of Lotor to let him know, that’s what he wants.  In this universe, he predicts a one hundred percent chance of success.  He is the Consort, Proper after all.  Whatever that means.

The congestion in the castle has petered out since they landed on Naxella and established it as a permanent base of operations and rally point.  They opened a hospital on the surface to treat the wounded from the blitz and bring in soldiers and refugees from all over the galaxy.  They’re using the training barracks abandoned by Zarkon’s fleet and housing the engineers in the cities.

And this is all very good, thinks Keith.  But the Blowjob is top priority right now.  According to Lotor’s Blip, he’s alone at the recon satellite station outpost.   And that is perfect, thinks Keith.  He ducks and rolls into a hallway while escaping the castle and anything like unforeseen responsibility.  He hops onto a glider bike and rides out as fast as he can.  In a few ticks his he’s hopping off the bike and stomping up some stairs in search of his self-promised reward.  He might even wear the crown again for dramatic effect.  He grins at the thought and hurries on.

But the chances of completing Operation Blowjob plummet when Keith hears the tale-tell warbling sound of the portals opening.  He runs into the station and finds it dark and filled with smoke.  He coughs into his hand before putting up his mask.  “Lotor!  Can you hear me?  Are you still in here?”

No one answers, and Keith starts to panic.  A moment ago, his biggest worry was going unnoticed to relieve some tension.  Now whatever is going on has his stomach turning and vision blurry with anxiety. 

“Lotor!  Please!  Answer me!  Lotor!”  Keith tears into the place before he remembers Slav’s warning.  He hails the castle, “Guys, please!  I need help!  I can’t find Lotor and there is smoke everywhere.  I don’t know what happened.”  There’s a fire burning on the back wall and bits of metal and parts are everywhere.  Keith hears a groan under some debris and starts digging.  “Please anyone!”

“We’re on the way,” says Shiro.  “Coran says the link to the satellite is gone.”

“There was an explosion or something.  I can hear the teleporters ringing I think… I can’t find Lotor.  I know he was in here.  Please, please…”

“Hang tight, Keith.”  Even as Shiro as signs off, Keith hears the roar of Red Lion in his head.  He gets the impression that Lance and Pidge are just outside and soon they come in and call out for him.

Keith keeps digging and uncovers Lotor’s face, “You!”

Lotor gives him a weak smile, “Me.  Ow.”

Keith snaps at him while desperately moving the chunks of metal pinning him down.  “Don’t be cute!  Now is not the time!”

Pidge runs up to him and looks around, “Oh gosh!  Is that the tele-rings!?  They sound terrible!”  Lance pulls her until she looks down and she gasps, “We have to find something to use a lever.  Lance, get that rebar over there.”

Together they get it up a little.  Keith tries to drag Lotor out, but he cries out in pain.  Lance and Pidge prop up the metal with more scraps.  Lance looks under the slab with a light, “Something is pinning him.  And it’s stuck in the scrap!  Don’t move him, Keith.”

“Coran,” says Pidge over her comm, “I need you to send medical assistance immediately!”

Keith wants to scream, but his friends anchor him, moving efficiently and looking for a way to save their one-time enemy.  Keith cradles Lotor’s head in his lap.  “You idiot, why’d you have to get blown up?”

Lotor has one hand free and he uses it to squeeze Keith’s thigh, “Sorry, darling.  It wasn’t intentional…”

“Guys?  Quick, over there,” says Hunk.    Keith looks up to see Hunk, Shiro, and Allura.  They all run to help.  Hunk pushes Pidge to the side.  “Go help Keith.  He’ll need pressure applied immediately and we have to move him quickly to the castle to a healing pod.  Shiro, Allura, help me get this up.”

Together they flip the heavy piece over.  But there’s no time to celebrate.  Tears run down Keith’s face as he and Pidge struggle to hold Lotor’s middle where a shard is jutting out over his chest.  Their hands are stained and slick with blood and Keith can’t imagine getting to the Castle in time.  “No, no, no, no!  Please!”

Keith is lost, grieving at the sight while the sound of his own blood thumps in his ears.  Lotor tells him, “Hey.  Look at me.  Look me in the eyes, Paladin.  I’m alright.  I’ve fared far worse.  Have you any idea the consequences I faced for undermining Haggar and Zarkon?  Eche… it’s not just a pleasure planet.  I wanted to show you.  I will show… when I get out of here, I’ll take you home and show you everything.”

Keith feels too weak to do anything but nod.  Pidge holds her hands over his and sniffles.  He realizes she’s crying too.  She looks down at the mess, “I’m sorry.  I wish I knew how to fix this.  It’s all my fault.”

“No,” says Lotor between gasps for air.  “No, it was…”  He frowns like he having trouble recalling.  “It was something in here.  I came in to set up our next test.  But the rings… They activated on their own.  … Sabotage.  Someone did this.”

Keith growls, “Who!  Who would have done something like this when we’re so close!”

Hunk scans the room, “He’s right.  There’s someone in here.”

Allura growls and draws her bayard, “Come out, coward!”

The others draw the weapons as well and circle around Keith, Pidge, and Lotor.  Keith is conflicted, wanted to fight whoever did this.  But Pidge squeezes his hands, “Keep him safe.  We’ll deal with this.”  She kisses his temple and gets up, drawing her bayard.

The next moment is a blur of motion and noise.  Keith can’t move, and he watches as a strange drone flies in and takes out Lance.  Then three more appear and circle them.  Shiro destroys one with his hand, but it’s replaced with five more.  The little drones fire on them with lasers that are leaving burning holes and Keith can tell they’re not set to non-lethal force.  Whoever it is, is trying to kill them all.  Keith shakes his head looking down at Lotor who’s grown still and silent.  “No.  Lotor.  Babe, please.  Wake up.”  He shakes his bondmate carefully.

Lotor opens his eyes, his mouth gurgling blood while the Paladins of Voltron fall one by one.  Keith looks to the door expecting help from the coalition to arrive but then there’s a loud explosion in the distance and people crying out.  Pidge’s helmet fell off and rolled close to Keith’s leg.  He can hear Coran screaming that the castle is under attack.  Keith sobs, “How is this happening.  Who would do this?”  He looks up as footsteps echo out of the smoke and darkness.  He growls, “You.”

“Me,” smiles the doppelganger.  “We were never properly introduced.”  He gives Keith a half bow and draws a sword while moving to stand over Lance and Hunk.  “I am Emperor Sincline.  And you, little paladin, are mine for the taking.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas, and take this as an exposition, plot-moving device, nothing is final. It's all timey-whimey stuff. But first, some quality time with the other asshole.


	7. Chapter 7

It took years for Keith to get to this point.  Years in the Galaxy Garrison, after they reluctantly accepted his admission.  Years of chasing his own tail and then the nightmarish time he spent looking for Shiro.  Joining Voltron, looking for Shiro the sequel, finding the Blade, and meeting Lotor.  Keith has family and friends and hope.  Love.  Things he thought would always be too far out of reach for someone like him.  Someone so easily cast aside…

It takes seconds to tear it all down.  The drones continue to fly around Keith and his fallen family.  Lotor’s eyes go still and cloudy.  And Keith’s heart breaks.  “…no.”

“Don’t cry little pet.  Soon you won’t know hardship.  As my property, I can assure you, you’ll be well taken care of on…”

“Shut up!”  Keith slowly his bloody hands away from the wound and bends down to kiss Lotor on the lips.  He looks at the helmet by his side.  Pidge is shaking and muttering with her eyes rolled back, but everyone else is unmoving and quiet.  And bleeding out.  Keith lets Lotor go and holds his hands out in front of himself.

“Oh my, you are precious.”  Sincline slinks closer like a snake.  “Are you praying?”  He laughs, and it sounds nothing like the self-satisfied mocking he’s used to from Lotor.  It sounds wrong, like its off key.  It’s sadistic.  And Lotor is a lot of things, but Keith’s never seen this side of him.  And he finds it repugnant.

Keith balls his hands into fists and gets up.  “I’m not going anywhere with you.  And I don’t have to pray to make that happen.”

“Ah, how cute.  Are you going to try and fight me with your bare hands?”

“Who said anything about bare?”  Keith flicks his wrists and the red and black bayards materialize as swords.  He swings them, having trained with two blades with Kolivan, Keith’s confident he can at least hold Sincline back until reinforcements arrive.

Sincline laughs again while blocking Keith’s attacks, “Impressive.  You’re far more skilled than your counterpoint in my reality.  It took little to no effort to wipe him out.  But you, you must train with Galra _and_ bed them by the sounds of it.”

“No more talking, jackass!”  Keith kicks Sincline in the balls after a feint and he actually looks surprised as he goes down.  Keith takes the opportunity, turning the red bayard into a shield and the black into a long sword, he swings again, intending to cut Sincline in half. 

“That’s enough,” says Sincline.  He swings a right hook that catches Keith in the chin.  Keith falls back on his ass and Sincline’s drones circle around them both.  Sincline smiles, “I’m sorry.  It was not my intention to leave any marks on you.  Not yet anyway.”  He extends a hand, “Give up, little paladin.  One way or the other, you are coming with me.  Think about it.  You’ll never have another worry as my concubine.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Keith starts to get up and fight again but one the drones fire on him.  It blasts a hole in his right hand and Keith screams and pulls the wound close.  He looks up at Sincline.  “I’m not going anywhere with you!  My life, my people, my husband…”

“Are all dead or dying,” grins Sincline. 

Keith is angry and hurt but before he can lash out again, the drones all fire on him at once.

The last thing he sees is blinding light and the smug face of someone he loves… smiling wrong.

* * *

 

Keith wakes up with a start, sitting straight up and clutching his hands to his chest.  But when he looks down, there’s nothing wrong.  No gaping hole, no pain.  Only Lotor’s ring.  He’s wearing a light, silky red robe and sitting in the middle of a familiar massive bed.  Keith sighs, “Eche.  I’m… It was all a bad dream or something.  What the hell did I eat last night?”  He laughs hysterically before getting up.  He looks around the room and frowns.  None of his things are here.  No sign of Lotor’s experiments or desks and books and art and random shiny things he never put a name to.  The room is stark but for the bed and pool.  And it feels cold.  Keith wraps his arms around his middle.  Standing half naked and barefoot makes him feel too vulnerable.  He heads for the door, trying to remember how he got in Eche in the first place. 

But none of the pieces fit.  The last thing he remembers…  The nightmare, he thinks to himself.  It was only a nightmare.  There’s no way any of that happened.  His family is safe and warm somewhere, he thinks.  He hopes.  He closes his eyes and is haunted by the memory of Lotor’s lifeless eyes.  Keith starts to cry just thinking about it and tries to shake the thought out of his head.  There's no use in dwelling over imagined tragedies.  If he goes out right now, he thinks, he'll find Lotor and Allura probably making plans or arguing.  He’ll find Pidge and Hunk exploring all of Lotor’s cool tech.  Lance asking everyone with two legs to date him.  He’ll find life on the other side of the door.  He just knows it.  But try as he might, Keith can’t move any closer.  He can't bring himself to open the door.

The door flies open on it own and in comes Athanie, hands flying everywhere.  “Sir, I must insist you stay in bed.”

Keith smiles, “Athanie!”  He runs forward and hugs her neck, “I just had the worst fucking dream… where’s His Majesty?  How did I get here?  Did I hit my head or something?”

Athanie shines a light in his right eye while pushing him back with her other hands until he gives up and heads back to the bed.  Keith plops down and lets her examine him, “That’s better.  Everything seems to be in order.”

“What do you mean?  I did hit my head, didn’t I?  No wait, are you giving me birth control?  Cause Regris said I’m close to Vitabrite Nicky.”

“Vebulate Nikol.

“Whatever.  I think it was before the dream… What day is it?”  Keith slows down and really takes in her appearance.  The cheerful young Unilu he knew seems strange and distant.  There’s a scar he never noticed before across her neck.  She’s dressed like a doctor, not a hostess and she seems especially short of patience with him.   Keith freezes, “Who are you?”

“Strange,” says Athanie tilting her head and examining his results.  “You called me by name like we knew each other.  I thought it was conditioning from His Majesty.  But it’s something altogether different.  I didn’t find any signs of the usual stress of conditioning.  Besides the wound to your hand, you were mostly healthy.”

Keith feels like his stomach has dropped to the floor, his worldview is on its head.  “…They’re gone.  My family is gone.  And I’m…”

“You are now the property of His Royal Majesty, Emperor Sincline the First and Only.  And for some reason, he’s thinking of making you a high-level concubine.”  She takes out an injection needle filled with white fluid from her jacket, “It’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard of, but I suppose he’s bored now without the old rebellion to entertain.”

Keith rolls away and evades her, “Don’t.  Don’t come any closer.  I don’t know you but… you look like a friend of mine and I’d hate to hurt you.  Just tell me where I am.”

Athanie narrows her eyes before taking a fighting stance, “You’re in close proximity to _my_ Emperor.  And if you threaten me again, I will not hesitate to put you in your place.  He can use you well after I’ve healed you.  Again.”  She smirks while a handful of the deadly drones come in the room.  “Yield, Red Paladin.”

“Enough of that.”

Keith looks to the doorway, heart in his throat.  The familiar voice of his boyfriend so close, but in this terrible nightmare, it could only mean one thing.

Sincline walks in, dressed in stately black armor.  He raises a hand and Athanie bows and backs out of the room.  “She’s quite the loyal subject.  Try anything and she has permission to hunt you down and tear you apart.  As my personal surgeon, there’s honestly no one better to put you back to rights.  At least functionally.”

“Look here, asshole,” Keith stops himself and shakes his head.  “No, that’s not you…”

Sincline smiles, “Good, you’re learning your place already.”

“You’re a _bitchass_.”

Sincline’s face falls.  “I don’t know how the other me tolerated this disrespect.  You’ve got spirit, but is it worth all the talking and bluster?  Is it worth giving you _that_?”  He waves his right hand and glows dark blue with magical energy.  The ring tugs on Keith’s hand until he’s forced to let it go.  It floats over to Sincline and widens back into a diadem.  He holds it carefully while sneering at Keith, “I can only wonder at how weak my counterpoint was to give in to such sentiments.”

Keith walks up to Sincline, not thinking of the fact he’s unarmed and half-naked in enemy territory.  “Give that back, you bitchass loser or else I’m gonna—”

“Do you even know what it is?  I assume my counterpoint knows.  But why’d he give you the late queen’s crown?”  He steps into space looking down at him, taking Keith’s chin in his hand, “I can’t imagine any reason I would deem a creature like you worthy.  But here it is.  Proof of the possibility.  Tell me, little paladin, how this came to pass?”

Keith breaths harshly through his nose, thinking quickly was always his strong suit.  Well, on occasion anyway.  So, he sizes Sincline up and evaluates why the man has brought him here and killed his friends.  He weighs that against what he knows to be true about Lotor.  Keith steps impossibly closer, brazenly looks the Emperor in the eye and smiles, “I fucked him.”

Sincline laughs, “I see.”

“No, you don’t.”  Keith pulls Sincline down by the chest plate of his armor and whispers in his ear, his lips close enough to kiss the points.  “I fucked him,” he repeats and Sincline lets it.  He’s clearly the stronger of the two of them, but Keith’s done what he did to Lotor.  He’s made himself a curiosity and the egomaniacal emperor probably prizes himself for collecting curiosities. And he’s probably twice as lonely.   Keith steps back with hands on his hips and watches Sincline’s eyes track him.  Keith smirks and walks over to the bed.  “In a bed just like this.  On his Eche.  I tied him down and fucked him.  And he fucked me.  On the floor, in the pool, in the bath, on the balcony… everywhere.  For hours.  Days.  I was at the end of my first real Vertebrae Nipple…”

“Vebulate Nikol.”

“Whatever.  I was at the end of it.  And he was the first real Galra I’d ever been close to.  Lotor is not weak.  He’s strong and beautiful and smart.  And he makes me laugh.  I couldn’t help falling in love with him.  But before I even put that into words, I deemed him worthy enough to _give_ my consent.  The most fantastic sex either of us has ever had, just happened.  A lot.  And now, I’m going home and Lotor is going to be my husband.  You’re just a cheap imitation.”

Keith can hear Sincline’s teeth grinding.  But keeps still, even when Sincline marches up to him and backhands him across the face.  “How dare you!  You, impudent little whore!”

It hurts more than he thought it would, but Keith laughs, “See?  You don’t have half the discipline, restraint or strength my prince had.”  He looks Sincline up and down, “You look like him, but you’ll never be as great as him.”

Sincline gives Keith a rough shake by the neck, “He’s dead!  Along with all your little paladins, your world is gone!  I set it on fire and stole you away with barely any effort.  I am the most powerful man in all reality!”

Keith rolls his eyes, “And yet, here you are.”  He slaps Sincline hands away points a finger on his chest plate.  “Look, bitchass.  That’s your new name by the way.  Bitchass, if I’m really stuck here, you’re going to have to own up to your shortcomings.”

“Shortcomings!”

“Sounds to me like you overachieve because, ahem,” he looks down pointedly, “You’re trying to compensate for something.  People who have to  _take_ , only do so because _nothing_ is freely given.  Lotor was so good, I wanted I genuinely wanted to fuck him all the time.  Can you honestly tell me there’s a single creature here that delights in having you?  That gives you as good as it gets?  A week with me and my prince dismissed his whole damn harem.  You know anybody worth that here?”

Sincline’s face juggles from confused to angry to confused again, “Are you saying you're so talented in bed, my weaker counterpoint drove off all his bedmates?  That’s preposterous.”  It's Sincline's turn to roll his eyes and he does so with a dramatic hair flip.  Sincline crosses his arms, "You know what I think.”

“I don’t really give a fuck what you think, loser...”

“I think you’re scared.”  Sincline’s eyes train on Keith’s, scanning for any scenes of weakness.  “You’re terrified.  You’ve witnessed my power and cunning and now you are trapped, little paladin.  There’s nowhere to run and no one is coming to save you.”

“The implication being,” Keith rolls his hand, “You’re a great, big, bad guy and planning to do terrible things to me.  I hear you.  Ah, huh.”

Sincline scoffs, “What kind of creature are you?”

“I’m what my people call a ‘freak in the sheets’.  And if you were half the man my boyfriend is, I’d be down to give you a sampling of the goods.  But you’re not so…”  Keith sighs and moves to the bed and plops down in the center.  “Get on with the ravaging.  I hope you like cold fish, cause that’s all you’re getting out of me.  Oh and by the way,” he sits up on his elbows and looks at Sincline’s crotch again, “Lotor had the biggest cock I’d ever seen anywhere, like in my whole life.”  He notices Sincline flinching like he was about to cover himself.  Keith grins, “You’d have a lot to live up to.  If Slav is right everyone is not the same in every reality.  And for all I know, this is the world of tiny pricks.”

Sincline huffs and stomps over Keith and yanks him up by the hair, “If you think insulting me is going to buy you time…”

Keith pushes him back, “Oh just get on with it, you bitchass loser.  My opinion of you isn’t going to change for the better if you rape me.  It the kind of thing lowly, small, weak man would do. You don't scare me.  You're pitiful."

Sincline’s pulls away slowly and gives Keith a small smile.  “Well done, little wordsmith.  Did that inferior copy teach you to manipulate?  You’re clumsy at it, but message received.”  He backs away but reaches out to adjust the robe over Keith’s knee.  His hand lingers before finally pulling away.  “We have all of the time in the universe to get better acquainted.  I can take things… slow.  I can woo you properly.”

Keith rolls his eyes, “Fat chance, loser.”

Sincline laughs and gives Keith a little bow, “I will send my attendants to get you dressed.  An itinerary will be set.  We will spend a lovely day together and by nightfall,” he looks down at Keith’s lips, “I’m taking what pleases me.  What you feel about it, is your own affair and of no concern of mine.”  He stalks out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Keith lets out a relieved breath and falls to the bed.  “Fuck!  How did this happen!”  He rolls over and covers his eyes, sobbing before he thinks better of it.  This is not the place to let anyone see him be weak.  He gets up and wipes his face angrily.  Then remembers.  “That fake bitch has my crown!”

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Some infidelity, manipulation. Keith misbehaving in general.

Eche is cold in this reality.  The tropical paradise Keith remembered is gone.  There’s no preservation, barely any trees.  Everything is paved and built on with ugly gray materials.  It is stark in every way.  No wildlife.  And no free hybrids walking around happy to serve their prince.  Keith looks out from the balcony and sees robotic sentries everywhere.  There are some familiar faces, but they’re in chains.  And there are soldiers manhandling the hybrids.  They’re not spoiled courtesans in this universe, they’re slaves.  And by the looks of it, everyone is used to the rough treatment, walking around docilely on leashes or chains.

Keith pulls away from the sight.  If he can’t stomach seeing it, thinks Keith, how’s he supposed to live it?  He paces the room and the bath suite looking for anything he can use as a weapon.  But Sincline must bring a lot of unwilling guests up to the room, it’s bare of anything useful.  He doubts the Emperor sleeps here.

Athanie comes back with several droid attendants and racks of fabrics and jewels.  “We’re here to make you presentable.  If you resist,” she smiles, “I have permission to kill you.  So long as I bring you back before you get cold.”

Keith ears prick up at that news, “Bring me back?”

Athanie smirks at him, “Oh yes.  But understand that dying the first time is going to hurt.  And you will remember every second of it.”

“I get it.  You’re very goth in this timeline.”

She scowls at him and pushes him into the pool, “First thing first.  We have to get the stink of that imposter off you.”

Keith sputters and comes up spitting at her and the droids.  “I’m getting out of this.  I’m going home.  And if I have to kick your ass before I do…”

“Enough of that.”

Keith starts to come at her, but he’s shocked.  Literally, as an electric current runs through the water.  He seizes and sputters and floats to the top, paralyzed from the neck down. 

Athanie drags him to the rim by his hair and slaps his face until he starts breathing normally.  “There, there.  You might think you’re unbreakable, but my dear, it's been done before.  Though why the Emperor wants to bed a homely thing like you this time, is beyond me.”  She dunks his head and Keith blacks out under the water.

* * *

 

Keith comes to floating over a strange dais in the center of a different room.  He can’t seem to come down and is stuck spinning slowly like a display mannequin.  He looks around the hazy room, “I know this.  The orgy place?” 

But the room isn’t full of courtesans making out with each other.  There are many different species servicing Galra Commanders.  And humans!  Keith boggles at the sight, but the men and women are clearly from earth.  “How!  When did this happen?”  He tries harder to get down.  Looking at his feet, he notices he’s barefoot again and dressed in a slinky v-neck tunic with shimmery pants.  He feels ridiculous.  The top slides from his right shoulder and there’s goes his nipple, thinks Keith.  He shakes his head, exclaiming, “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Ah, you’re up!”    Keith struggles to turn around, but he can’t move any faster than he’s spinning.  Slowly he comes around to Sincline with a blonde woman leashed at the neck.  He passes the leash to a soldier, “See that the Princess gets some quality time with the Admiral next.  I have other matters to attend to.”

Keith watches the woman walk away with big sad eyes and prays he finds a way to help her and the people here.  “I’m not a goddamn doll, you fake bitch!”

“Again, with the disrespect.”  Sincline menaces his way to the stand and looks at up Keith, “Don’t think for a moment I won’t throw out this notion of keeping you for myself.  There is a legion of men here, happy to take an obstinate thing like you just for the chance to tear you apart.”

Sincline pokes Keith’s shoulder and the light motion sends him spinning so fast he feels like throwing up.  Keith struggles with the reflex to cover his mouth, but his hands and arms are still frozen in place.  “When I get down from here, I’m kicking you in the balls again.”  Sincline pushes him again and Keith goes faster, “Ah!!  I hope I throw up all over you!”

Sincline laughs, “This is fun, but we’ll be late for our date, darling.”  He steps up and claps a hand on Keith’s shoulder.  The sudden stop makes Keith crossed-eyed and Sincline laughs harder before bringing him down.  He holds Keith up easily from his underarms like he is indeed a new doll.  “I had Athanie run every test to confirm your assertion in that elevator.  Mae Drule were breed out and diluted thousands of years ago.  There’s none left amongst the Galra now.  That’s why taking Earth was such a delight.  Such fertile and adaptive creatures.  Easily tamed with the right coaxing.  The fall of the rebellion opened the way for the perfect intergalactic breeding stock.  And here you are.  Claiming to be a mix of both those treasures.  A one of kind thing in my universe.”

Keith barely resists the urge to spit in Sincline’s face.  He looks down at his feet, instead.  “I want some shoes.”

“No.”

“Put me down.”

“No.”

Keith rolls his eyes, “I was sent to Lotor in the spirit of cooperation against Zarkon.  Are you telling me you’ve never negotiated?”

Sincline smiles wide, in his sinister way and finally puts Keith down, only to leer at him.  “I am Emperor Sincline, not Prince Lotor.  I killed my father a thousand years ago.  I destroyed the Galactic Coalition of rebel fighters.  And I’m going to march back to your universe and take it as well.”

Keith narrows his eyes, but he might have just heard the best news in his life.  “You will never take my world.  My Earth isn’t going lay down and take it.  And neither am I.”  He grabs Sincline by the neck and everyone goes into motion.  Women and men screaming while guards draw their weapons.  Sincline lets it happen and Keith gets him down, eye to eye.  “Whatever you’ve been dealing with is not on the same level as me… Not even the same species!  I’m Keith Kogane, Paladin of Voltron and a Blade of Marmora.”  He pushes Sincline away and brushes his hands like they were dirty, “There.  Now introductions are over.  Let’s get on with this date.”

Sincline watches with wide eyes as Keith snatches up someone’s drink and downs it one shot, then smashes the glass.  He laughs at the sight, “What are you?!  I love it!  Athanie!”

Athanie comes out of nowhere and bows.  “Shall I put him down, Your Majesty?”

Sincline shakes his head while Keith drinks another glass, “Bring this young man some shoes.  We’re going for a walk.”

* * *

 

Sincline takes Keith for a tour of his main palace.  He’s busy gloating about the stolen Olkari technology that built it and the praising himself for crushing his lessors.  Keith follows in his new shoes, arm in arm and with a glass of wine in his free hand.  He stumbles and walks slower as the day drags on.  While Sincline is boasting, Keith keeps an eye on the layout and ratio of guards to slaves.  He doesn’t like it.  He keeps up his end of the conversation by bringing up his memories of Eche.

“And that!  I know that!  There was a courtyard there and that’s where Lotor first felt me up.  And did this thing with his hand,” he closes his eyes remembering the first scratch at the top of his head.  “And Bam!  I just knew I was going to fuck him, like right then and there.  We didn’t make it out of the garden.  We fucked in a fountain that was over there,” he lies, spilling wine when he swings his hand.  “And then over there against the wall.  And after the party broke up we went to his lab and played doctor.  And by that I mean we fucked some more.  It was great,” slurs Keith. 

Sincline pulls him along trying to take control of the tour again, “Perhaps it's best we retire and get you fed.  You look like you’ll fall over at this rate.”

“He’s soooo big.”  Keith fakes a sob and turns his head to blow his nose in Sincline’s elbow.  He rests his head on the Emperor’s shoulder and eyes the man’s wrist guard.  “He was my boo.  And I missed him so much.  And I’m so horny right now, I could fuck a… a whatever the hell Slav is.”

Sincline makes a face at his messy arm pushes Keith away.  “Are you quite done blubbering about that inadequate copy?   He couldn’t even kill Zarkon.”  Sincline rolls his eyes.

Keith perks up at the mention of Zarkon and throws his arms around Sincline’s neck, spilling his drink again, “Zarkon!  Finally, something we agree on!  I hate that guy!  He’s even more of a bitch than you!  And I for one cannot wait to go home and finally put an end to his crazy!  My husband had this plan…”

“That’s enough,” Sincline shakes Keith by the shoulders.  “I don’t want to hear another word about him.”

Keith pouts and hangs his head before looking up with a grin, “But you’re him!”

“I am not!”

“You are!”  Keith squeezes Sincline tight, kissing the tip of his nose and nipping his lips.  “You’re my boo!  You look and talk just like him!  So, he’s not really gone, right!”  He breaks into a little sob, “And I miss you so much, babe!”  He cries into Sincline’s shoulder, his hands going everywhere while patting the armor.

Sincline finally gets him back up to the room, swatting Keith while he tries to grope him in the elevator.  “Stop that!  You drank too much!”  He shoves Keith into the room and points to the bed, “Sober up and when I come back…”

Keith laughs a little manically and starts stripping out of his clothes.  He watches Sincline's eyes follow the tunic as it falls around his ankles, then the pants.  Keith steps back to the bed and lays out on the bed.  “Fuck me.”

Sincline’s jaw drops.  “I beg your pardon?”

Keith giggles while spreading his legs and stroking himself until he’s half-hard.  “You heard me!  Come on!  You know I want I it.  Give it to me, Lotor.  Don’t make me beg.  You know begging makes me angry.”

Sincline frowns, “I’m not Lotor.  I am Emperor Sincline and you are going to-“

“Blah!  BLAH!  I’ve never seen someone pass so hard on a willing naked body.”  He sits up on his elbow, “I know who you are but to get through this, you’re going to be someone else.  And Me.  I’m going to be… well me.  No!  Little Red Riding Hood!  That was a good one!  Hey, can you shapeshift?  Giant werewolf dong was a surprise and a delight to me personally.”

Sincline tilts his head while coming closer to the bed, “What in Daibazaal are you talking about?”

Keith shrugs, “Never mind.  They can’t all be winners.  Maybe your dick is smaller, but so what.  I need it right now.  You hear me?  I.  Need.  It.”  He climbs over to pull Sincline down for a kiss and it’s nothing like kissing Lotor.  Lotor knows what he likes.  Lotor knows how to hold him but Keith has the advantage here.  _He_ knows how to kiss Sincline.  He knows how to make the Emperor’s toes curl.  Keith sucks on Sincline’s tongue and bites his lips while pulling his hair.  He pulls away for air and to gauge Sincline’s reaction.  Given the glazed and dopey expression, Keith would pat himself on the back.  He grins, “Yeah I know.  I do good work.”

Sincline follows him up, climbing onto the bed and stripping out of his chest plate armor.  “Fine then.  I’ll show you, you little harlot.”  He starts to kiss a trail down Keith’s neck and chest, but when Keith shoves his head down he sputters and comes up.  “What are you doing?!”

Keith looks at him with his eyes half-lidded, still stroking himself.  “Your mouth, duh.  Lotor was orally fixated and loved sucking my cock before fucking me very, very thoroughly.  You do know how to, right?”  He guides Sincline’s right hand up to his mouth and sucks hard on his index finger, he moans and pulls off when Sincline looks half ready to jump on him.  “There like that.  And here…”  He guides the finger down to his hole and rocks on to the first knuckle.  He sighs with his mouth hanging open, “There yes!  Like that!  Fuck haven’t you done this before?”

Sincline actually blushes at that, “I have been with many, many-“

Keith laughs in his face, “Yeah I know.  Lotor used to say the same thing.  But I guess it’s all been one-sided on your part.  You just take while someone lies there’s looking miserable, huh?  That sounds so fucking boring.  Are you bored, Your Majesty?”  He kisses Sincline deeply and by his reaction, Keith can tell he’s going to get anything he wants if he plays this right.

“Power is a burden and… gods but you do smell delicious…”  Sincline sucks eagerly on Keith’s neck while Keith keeps rocking on the finger and moaning.  Sincline kisses him desperately and Keith bites and claws at his neck and scalp in all the ways he knows drives Lotor nuts.

“Yeah just like that,” Keith moans while Sincline gets the hang of finger fucking him, crooking his finger but not quite finding Keith prostrate.  Keith shakes and pretends, “Yes!  There, come on.”  Sincline eagerly pumps away, and Keith would laugh at the inadequacy if he could.  Keith pushes Sincline back after another rough kiss, “Wait!  Wait!  Your safe word is pineapple!”

“Safe what?

“You know.  The thing you say if it all gets too intense.  If I bite or scratch you too hard.  Or pull your hair out or suck too much when you’re oversensitive or something, you know.  If I choke you too long or tie you down too tight.  Just say pineapple, and I’ll go easy on you.”

“Easy on _me_ ,” Sincline laughs.  “I’ve never heard that before.”

Keith rolls his eyes, “Let me guess.  This is the universe where you Top like there’s nothing but Topping.  Pshh,” Keith shoves Sincline back, “Well I’ll fix that.  But first, you’ve got to go wash that stink off.”

“Excuse me?”

“Wash.  I can’t stand that old lady perfume.  Look at that,” he points to his softening penis, “You’re making it sad!  Go wash so I can defile you properly!”  He swats Sincline on the ass and the half-naked emperor gets up and stumbles his way to the bathroom.  He looks back at Keith from the doorway, probably confused about how he got here.  Keith doesn’t offer any answers.  He gives Sincline a drunken and a lopsided smile.  “Hurry up!  And I might come in there and do that thing you like in the shower!”

Sincline almost trips over his own feet trying to go in and close the door.

Keith waits for a breath to hear water falling before getting up.  He has work to do.

 


	9. Chapter 9

First thing, Keith noticed the armor Sincline was wearing was similar to a suit Lotor boasted about.  After Keith destroyed his first Olkari prototype stealth suit, he had a new one commissioned.  And Keith’s willing to bet Sincline has the same inclinations when it comes to designing fancy armor.  He gets dressed in the tunic and flowy pants again, then straps on Sincline’s chest plate and wrist guard.  They’re both too big, but Keith manages. He turns on the suit’s computer and smiles.  “Thank you, Professor Slav.”  Within a tick or two, he’s hacked in by guessing the right code, Lotor’s favorite sequence of numbers and elements.  All ninety-eight of them.  He finds what he’s looking for and checks his reflection in the pool.  With the push of a button he disappears.  Keith hums to himself, “I’m a little teapot, short and stout.” 

Second thing, Keith noticed the sentries outside moved like clockwork.  And the drunken, sexed-up guards did little actual guarding.  He suspects the most dangerous things is really the advance drones that buzz around.  When they see a threat they hone in and follow orders.  With another press of a button on Sincline’s wrist guard, they all deactivate. The Emperor’s order supersedes any failsafe.  “Here is my handle and here is my spout...”

Third thing, Keith noticed the number of slaves to guards in the palace was about five to one.   And if they were well organized, a revolt could easily ensue while the Emperor was locked in the shower. So, Keith moves to the bath suite’s door and after some fiddling gets the wrist guard to weld the seams with a laser beam.  Sincline doesn’t seem to notice, and Keith hopes there’s not some secret way out of there.  He pats the door, “That’s a good- well, evil teapot.  Stay put until you’re really pruny.”

He does the same to the bedroom door and then heads for the balcony.  Looking out he sees only a handful of characters milling around.  Keith takes a running leap and activates the armor’s jet back.  He lands safely on the ground, invisible to the sentries.

“No please!  I can’t anymore, I simply can’t!  Not with you!”  A familiar looking woman beats on the chest of a hulking commander.  Keith waits until he pulls her into a dark passageway.  He knocks the man out and decloaks to speak to the woman.

“Shhh!”  He zaps the man with a stunner from the wrist guard and checks the exit and makes sure no one is following them, “I’m a friend.  Don’t scream or anything.”

“Chief?!”  She wraps her arms around his neck and cries.

“You know me?”  He pulls away to get the guards weapons.  “Are you… Are you Princess Allura?”

“Yes.  Don’t you remember?  I thought you were dead.”

“Maybe," he answers sadly.  "I’m not actually from here.  I’m from another universe.  Sincline kidnapped me.”

“I don’t understand?  Another universe?  Slav always said it was possible… But how did you get free?”

“I told him I’d suck his… you know what.  It doesn’t matter.  Point is, I’m going home.  But not before helping you out.  Sincline’s locked in his shower, the doors are weld shut and I shut off those annoying ass drones.  Is there anyone else from the rebellion here?”

She shakes her head, “Most active soldiers were killed.  My paladins were executed.  Coran and many others are being held in the Beta Traz prison.”  She looks down at the warden, “I’m given to him whenever he comes to report.  He delights in telling me how my people suffered.  And I can’t…”  She starts to cry, and Keith shakes her shoulders.

“I’m sorry, Princess.  I really am.  But I need you to focus.  For your people.  For everyone enslaved on this planet.  Can you help me?”

She nods and extends her hand, “Yes. Lets us start by burning everything down, mobilizing the slaves, and slitting our enemies’ throats.”

Keith shakes her hand with enthusiasm, “There you are!  That’s my princess!  Violence is always the answer!”

She nods, “Well, yes."   The princess rips part of her slinky dress.  She ties her hair up in a bun and wraps straps of cloth around her knuckles.   "When the occasion calls for it.  Let’s go.”

 

* * *

  

The revolution starts with a gasp. A soldier falls in a darken hallway while Allura and Keith run past his body.

They move quickly and quietly.  After almost a whole varga they’ve gained about sixty new soldiers.  Slaves freed from the commanders abusing them are given the orders to move out while there’s still time.  With Sincline’s wrist guard and access to the security systems, Keith shuts off cameras and lets their number grow.  They lock up and disable sentries.  Keith would expect his Allura to be more forgiving, but this Princess has endured the unspeakable. When she moves to really cut a guard’s throat, Keith sighs but keeps on moving.  It’s not his universe, and honestly, if it was up to him, he wouldn’t take prisoners either. 

Keith turns on a handful of the deadly drones and to scout for the freed people and activates one sentry near Sincline’s room.  “Hey, you!  Go find my crown.  It’s like… shit.”  Keith fumbles describing it, “The former queen’s crown?  Do you know what that is?”

Allura looks like she wants to ask, but she continues to work.  The robot nods and gives him a salute before going in search of it.  Keith has little hope of it finding the right thing, but he’d hate to go home without it.

Soon, the main palace is almost completely under their control.  Except for one thing.

Keith sends a handful of drones to corner Athanie and her personal droids.  Over the comm, he tells them to lay down their weapons and not to resist arrest.

Athanie laughs and strikes out.  Allura sends the freed slaves nearest to their location to check.  Keith silences an alarm.  He is certain in this universe that Athanie is dangerously fanatical and maybe in love with Sincline.  He catches a missive before it can be sent to the ships orbiting the planet and sighs.  She’s not going to submit like some of the other staff. Keith hesitates before ordering three of the security drones, “Take her out.” 

Keith lets the thought he just ordered her death pass over him and focuses on the bigger picture.  If he can get home, he’ll see the real Athanie again, he tells himself.  Not that this one wasn’t living and breathing moments ago.  But she wasn’t his.

“The warden’s fleet is in orbit.  Only his commanders came down.”  Allura leads Keith to a lab.  It looks years beyond the tech Lotor showed him.  But like Lotor’s lab, there’s a mix of Altean alchemy.  Allura uses it to bring a bigger map of the planet and all the security.  She tells Keith when to use the wrist guard to control things.  “The fleet can fire on us at any time, but no one has successfully alerted them.  Yet.  Are you sure Sincline is still locked up?”

Keith checks on the bedroom and sees it’s still empty.  Then he says out loud, “I wonder if Lotor was hiding cameras in our bedroom too.  That asshole.  We are having a long talk when I get home.”

“Lotor?”

“Nothing.  Just… I want to get back to my family.  Sincline attacked them when he took me.  I have to make sure they’re all right.”

“I understand.”  She brings up the plans for Sincline’s new project, “This log says he brought in a device from Maura days ago.  A ring with makeup similar to a teledav.  But I’ve never seen anything like it.  It wasn’t working when they brought it in.”

“Yeah.  My idiot boyfriend.  His first experiment failed and he left behind one of the prototypes when we got spotted by your crazy Sincline.”

“He is not my Sincline,” she says through bared teeth.  “He lusted after me for years.  And when the rebellion fell…”  Keith reaches out to her but stops short of actually touching her, imagining there’s no way she’d want that right now.  His hand falls but she smiles at him.  “Well, it’s the thought that counts, Paladin.  Thank you.”

Keith nods, “I can’t change what happened here.  But I can help you make it right.”

“I’m going to kill him.  With my bare hands.”

Keith frowns, “Princess, I’m all onboard for that, but we have to think bigger here.  Do you know how his empire is organized?  Who’s his second in command?  Is Haggar still around?”

“Haggar?  What on Arus is a Haggar?” 

“The Witch.  His mother, Zarkon’s wife crazy wife.”  Keith checks on the numbers of biorhythms on the planets and notes he was almost right about the ratio.  There are nearly four million people on the moon, and less than a fifth are Galra soldiers. 

Allura brings up a database of Sincline’s commanders and their outposts and worlds.  “I’ve never heard her call that before.  His mother Queen Honerva was thought of as a saintly creature.  She died soon after he was born.” 

Keith puts that away for later, “Oh.”  He wonders how different their upbringings were, and how close Lotor came to being a carbon copy of the mad Emperor.  He shakes the thought out of his head, “Up there in orbit is mostly sentries and ships on autopilot.  About.. wow!  One hundred vessels.”

“What are you thinking, Paladin?”

Keith grins while opening several channels of communications.  He checks on how far away they are from central command.  Eiuri’s system is nearby.  And this system is bare but for this little moon.  “I’m thinking we just got you a command center for the rebellion, Princess.  And ninety-seven battleships.  Maybe we can even reprogram the sentries.  You think you can teach these people to fly?”

She nods while tears fall from her eyes, “We’re going to be free.  After years of this nightmare….  I don’t know how to thank you…”

Keith moves to where the broken tele-ring was being kept.  It looks new and improved.  Sincline built a large platform around it.  He hands over the wrist guard and tells Allura the code sequence.   “Think you turn this thing on and send me home?”

She inspects it and moves to the console, “It looks Altean.  I might just be able to… There!”  She lays her hand over a crystal and frowns, “This is so much energy!  Far more than what’s required opening a simple wormhole.  This is for moving through time.  Crossing realities…  I don’t know if I can manage.”  She collapses in front of it.  “I’ve been kept weak for so long.  I might need days of recharging if I power it.”

And they don’t have the time right now while taking the palace.  Keith balls his fists.  “It’s okay, Princess.  Then maybe after this place is secure.  Your people need you… And you said time?  Do you think you can send me back to my reality before Sincline takes me?”

“It’s possible.  But something like that might affect this universe.  Without you being here, this wouldn’t be possible.”

Keith struggles with being selfish.  He tells himself he only cares about his universe, his family.  But he picks the Princess up and nods, “We’ll talk about it later.  Come on.  We have a moon to take.”

   

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this is the second to last chapter before I take a little break to focus on some other under-loved WIPs.  
> THANK Y'ALL SO MUCH FOR READING SO FAR
> 
> I swear things are going to get better for Keith and the fam in the next twenty or so chapters ^_^


	10. Chapter 10

“Hey, Corick?”

“Yeah, Maik?”

“I keep getting weird little bleeps.  Like someone’s pulling alarms all over the palace.  But then they go quiet.  You think the system is crashing?”

“I don’t know, Maik.  Do I look like technical support?”

“Yes actually.  You’re, my supervisor.  I followed you out to this damn nowhere post away from the glory of central command to watch His Majesty’s back when he’s most vulnerable.  And you’re supposed to support him.  Technically.”

“We watch the recordings and check the pings.  No ping, no problem.”

“But Corick.  I think something’s wrong here.  I’m not seeing a lot of activity on the palace grounds.  And it looks like His Majesty is shutting off things left and right.”

“Look, soldier.  Neither one of us gets paid to do more than we’re trained to do.  I’m not leaving the post until my shift is over.  I’m not calling the fucking Emperor to ask him why he’s turning off his own security.  That’s not my division.  Is it yours?”

“…No.”

“Then lay off it and eat your canwirna.”

Keith decloaks and comes out of the shadows to stand between the two guards watching the security footage.  He sticks his finger in the bowl of noodles and steals a bite.  “Blagh!  Too much nalida-6 sauce!”  His nose scrunches at the artificial sweetness.  “I’m used to it being spicier.”

The two guards stare up at him wide-eyed and blinking while he uses Sincline’s wrist guard to shut off their cameras.  One guard goes for his gun as the other simply raises his hands in surrender, “Don’t try it, Maik.  We don’t get paid enough to die.”

Maik sighs and raises his hands, “Yeah.  You’re right.”

Keith takes over the security outpost and radios the Princess, “Allura?  You were right.  There are at least eight more minor details like this one still active in the palace.  What do we do with them?”

“Shut them down and secure the site until I send you some support.  The first wave is preparing to move out to the ships.  Are you ready?”

Keith ties the two guards up and locks them in a nearby storage closet.  “As ready as you are.  Eche’s security is pathetic.  This is a cakewalk.”  He smirks while sealing up the control room and moving on to the next objective.  He rendezvous with a team of the freed slaves, men and women from Earth’s former military alliance.  Keith hopes he makes it home, and he can look into what happened to their counterpoints.  He hopes he finds happiness for them there and makes it a point to remember everyone’s faces and names.

They circle back up to the main palace and the Emperor’s private rooms.  Keith holds his breath, “Alright.  Everyone on guard.  There’s been no movement since I locked him in there, but there’s no telling what he’ll do when we get through that door.” 

The others nod their understanding.  One tall, skinny man called Arlock hurries forward, “For the Alliance!”

They come into an empty room, steam coming off the pool in the center and the balcony doors still open.  Keith hardens himself moving forward to the door, “Here with the cutters… I sealed him in.  Be ready.”

Two men kneel to cut open the door while the others circle around with their weapons at the ready.  Keith counts between his heartbeats as they wait, anticipating a fight from Sincline.  But it doesn’t come.  The door opens, and everyone gasps.  There’s no sign of the Emperor.

“Fuck!”  Keith turns away from cascading waters, “Allura!  Something’s wrong!  He’s not here!”

“Well, obviously,” says Sincline over the com.  Keith’s heart stops at the words.  “I was curious to see how far you’d get, and I must admit.  Taking the palace, freeing the breeding stock, and arranging the usurpation of my fleet?  That was an impressive maneuver.  All hinging on my captivity, of course.  I’m almost sorry to disappoint.”

“You god damn, bitch ass mother—”  Keith turns to the others, “Come on, back to the science labs and to Allura!”

“She’s quite dead.”

They all freeze as Sincline stands in the bedroom’s doorway, naked but for a short loose robe.  And the blood on his hands.  He has the nerve to lean on the doorframe and smirk at them all, “I’m the Emperor of Light.  The God King.  The Essential Vessel of All Power.  If you had bothered to ask, I would have told you all these names were well-earned.  I did warn you, little Red.  I am not your weakling Prince.  I am God now.”

“Last time I check, gods don’t bleed!”  Keith rushes forward, attacking with his sword.  Sincline vanishes from sight and Keith snarls, “You damn coward!  Come out and fight me!”

The freemen and women start falling, blood spurting from their eyes as they drop to the floor.  Keith racks his head trying to keep up.  He’s soon out of support and still out of his depth.  Sincline reappears, standing taller than Zarkon, his body a twisted, muscled mass with bloodied claws.  He grins at Keith, “I won’t fight you.  You’ve proven there’s tenacity in your blood.  I couldn’t hope to find your match in my own universe. Not even your counterpoint had such a spirit.  You’re mine, and together we will seed…”

“Fuck that!”  Keith throws the now useless gauntlet at the Emperor.  “You just killed all these innocent people.  You think I would lie there and let a monster like you knock me up or something?  I'd rather die!  You disgust me!  And I’m going to kill you with my bare hands!”  He’s not thinking when he runs, hoping he’s strong enough to overcome the strength of Sincline’s malignant quintessence.  He lashes out and gets thrown around like a rag doll in answer.

Sincline takes Keith up by the hair and together they disappear.  And with a sickening snap, reappear back in the lab.  He holds Keith out and shakes him, “My life’s ambition has been to evolve myself.  And here, I will remake you as well.  You’ll be worthy of me when I’m done with you, my consort.”  He laughs as he throws Keith down near the tele-rings. 

Keith crawls forward, he can tell Allura’s not dead.  But by her desperation to keep her abdomen covered, he surmises it won’t be long.

Sincline coughs into his hand, his body seems to change back with a bit of effort, but his eyes glow a bright yellow.  “I haven’t had to use my true form since I killed my father.  And truthfully it wasn’t needed now.  But I need you to understand how futile it is to resist me.  I hope you have some idea now, you little brat.”

Allura eyes the space between them and mouths a series of elements.  Keith frowns at her, wondering what she could mean to do with the little time they have left alive.  He has no intention to live as some broodmare.  If he has to, he’ll provoke Sincline until he’s killed.  He at least could _die_ with knowing he didn’t give in.

He crawls over to hear better.  And her muttering starts to make sense.  The quantum signature notation of his reality was hammered into his head by the Holts before he left.  She smiles at him and hands over a blood-slick cube.  “They need you to answer the call.  It’d be rude of you not to pick up.”

Keith sobs and butt heads with her while Sincline has his back turned, posturing and readying some kind machine.  “…Thank you, Allura.  For trying to help me.”

She smiles at him, “Thank you for giving us one last fight, Red Paladin.  Goodbye, Chief.”

“Enough of that,” says Sincline.  He grabs Keith by the ankle and drags him over to an operating table.  Keith keeps the little device hidden in his hand, and Sincline notices.  “Whatever weapon you’ve acquired is going to bounce right off of me.”

Keith smiles at him, “Okay.”

Sincline looks back to where the tele-rings are starting up, “You little shit!  How dare you!?”

A light goes off as the counter goes down and Keith feels himself ripping apart while the tele-rings warble, making a deafening noise before everything goes very black.  The best Keith can hope for is he goes home.  The worst might be he dies, but maybe he takes the arrogant prick with him.

* * *

 

“O-ma-dah!”

Keith blinks his eyes open, slowly.  There’s a pressure on his chest pinning him down.  And something sticky poking him on the nose.  Then _up_ his nose.  He screams, sitting straight up and sending a bundle of something down into his lap.

The bundle laughs and looks up at him with big violet eyes.  “O-ma-dah!  You tick-lees!”

“I wah?”

It’s a kid, a toddler with long black hair, dressed in just a cloth diaper with chubby little hands covered something that smells like grape jelly.  The baby gurgles and sucks on its thumb before rolling backward on Keith's legs.  Keith gasps at the sight of two little gossamer wings fanning out.  And a tail.  The kid has a _fricking_ tail.  The kid stands up, bracketing Keith's legs its own chubby feet and grinning.  “O-ma-dah!  Daddy said you had to call Au-nie Lura!”

Keith wonders if the little imp is trying to speak English.  He makes a face at the baby and it laughs before running forward, open palms aiming for his face.  He catches the baby under the arms and holds it back.  “Who… what are you?”

The baby giggles, “Grrrrr!”  It growls and bares its teeth (all twelve of them).  “I’m O-ma-dah’s Monster!” 

Keith can’t help laughing, “Well.  At least you’re a cuddly monster.  Mind backing off and washing your hands or something?”

The baby pops it thumb back in its mouth, then the end of some of its hair.  And that doesn’t seem right, so Keith takes and pulls the kid’s hair back.  The baby simply puts its tail in mouth.

Keith rolls his eyes.  “Right.  Let's find your ah, Daddy then.  Up.”  He picks up the hyper, messy bundle and takes in his surroundings.  He’s never seen a room so big and full of… stuff.  The enormous bed he woke up in looks rumbled and there are clothes around on the floor.  He stops in front of a floor-length mirror and looks at himself.  “Am I taller?”

“O-ma-dah!”  squeals the baby.  “Is a tree!”

“Yeah huh.  Tree,” he looks at his face, and it seems more square than he remembered.  His shoulders seem broader.  “The hell?  Did I stretch out in the portal or something?”

“Darling there you are,” says a deep voice from the doorway.  Keith turns and his eyes almost fall out of his head.  There stands Lotor, with a full white beard and enormous belly.  He pats himself, “I sent your little monster to get you for breakfast.  Your Princess is worried about you, you know.”

“Babe?”  Keith’s eyes water, “Babe is that you?”  All the trauma he's experienced since cradling Lotor in his arms, suddenly crashing down on him.  He just wants to cry and cry and cry.

Lotor walks up to him and takes the sticky baby out his arms, “Of course it’s me, you little shit.  Who else would I be?”

“Daddy!”

“Oh right,” smiles Lotor.  He tosses the baby in the air until it giggles then sits it down.  “That’s enough of being naked, Akira.  Honestly, my wild son.  Stop sneaking off from Athanie before she has a heart attack.”  He swats the baby on the bottom and watches him toddle out of the room.

Keith gapes at the whole scene with his mouth open, “…that was your son?”

Lotor stares at him with a raised eyebrow.  “Little Red?  Are you feeling alright?”

Keith shakes his head, “I don’t know!  I don’t know what the hell is going on!”  He holds his head and sobs, “I’m going to throw up or something.”

Lotor looks him, “Oh.”  He takes Keith by the elbow.  “I have an idea of what’s wrong then.  I didn’t know it was going to happen so soon.  Come here.”  He leads Keith to the bed and sits him down.  “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“You were gone.”  Keith shuts his eyes on the strange sight of the room and prince.  “Everyone was gone.  And I was drifting.  I was alone…”

“But you weren’t alone.  We’re all with you.”

“No,” says Keith through his teeth.  “You don’t understand.”

“Sincline detonated the lab and chased you, didn’t he?”

Keith eyes open and he looks at Lotor in shock.  “Yes!  Maybe... Wait, how did you know?  Who are you?  Where the hell am I?”

Lotor takes him by the hand smiles gently at him, “You’re home.  A great many years after that.  You told me once that this was your first memory of the event.  The first slip in the timestream.  We’re all lost in it.  You have to find us.”

“We?”  Keith looks at the strange, round belly man in front of him.  “You’re saying you’re my Lotor?  And you lived after the attack?  How?  I saw you die, I held you…”  His eyes fill with tears and he blinks them away, head hanging, “I couldn’t save you.”

“I’m not sure exactly.  Slav saved us.  And with his tinkering, we tried to come after you.”

“The signal?”

“And just when I thought you were coming home to me, we were all swept in.  You, me, and the other Paladins.  But we’re all in splintered streams of consciousness, floating from one time to another.  Experiencing different times and realities across multiple universes.  The only thing binding us is Slav.  He’s tracking and repeatedly calling us back.  But it can’t work unless we’re all together in one reality.  And that won’t happen unless you look for us.”

“Me?”

“You find each and everyone one of us.  Right now, you’re merely occupying the body of the man I married.”  He leans forward and kisses Keith on the forehead.  “Find me.  Find the others.  And come home.”  He pats his belly, “For me and your children.”

Keith’s hands shake, “Are you fucking kidding me right now.”

“Language,” laughs Lotor.  “Little ears around here are impressionable.  And your son has already picked up all your worst habits.  Your little monster.”  He smiles, “And this one.  I don’t know yet.  But I believe it’s a girl.  With any luck, she’ll be more even-tempered, like me.”

“Like you?  You wish.”  Keith lays his hand on the belly and barks a sudden laugh, “A family huh?  Honestly… I don’t know if I’m ready for that.”

“No, of course not.  Not as you are.  And not as I was.  It took a great deal of deliberation on both our parts.  Years and years and years of it.  And finally, I accidentally got you knocked up.”

**“What?!”**

“Oh yes.”  He smirks, “And now it's my turn.”  He kisses Keith on the temple.  “But you’ll have to experience this for yourself.  No more spoilers.  You have about… how long since you woke up here?”

“I don’t know.  Does it matter?”

“Each jump is about two hours long.  That’s how long it takes Slav to reset things on his end.  Two hours to acclimate to your surroundings and search for us.”

“And in the meantime?”

Lotor smirks, “Well, there are official duties and appearances to keep.  And you’re on Akira wrangling duty.  He only listens to you anyway,” he says in a soft indulgent way.  “He knows I’ll roll over in a heartbeat.  Little brat.”  He gets up with some difficulty, “Or you can stay here until your time is up if you want.”

A sudden scream breaks out down the hall and Akira flutters in, flying just a little above the floor before tumbling head over heels.  Naked as a jaybird.  Keith frowns at the sight, “What in the hell are you doing?”

“Language,” says Athanie as she huffs in, a fluffy towel in her hand.  “He’s just not cooperating with me this morning.  I’m sorry Your Majesty.”  She bows before throwing down the towel and stomping away.  “But I give up!”

Lotor laughs, “Never mind.  I’ll keep him busy.  Go let Athanie dress you up or something.  That always puts her in a better mood.”  He picks up their son and bops his nose.  “Who wants to sing a song?”

The baby grins, “Me!  Me!”  His little face gets very serious, “I’m a little teapot!  Short and stout!”

Keith feels tears falling down his face and his headaches.  He sits on the bed, watching something he never imagined possible unfold tenderly.  Lotor and their child singing that same damn song.  Keith holds his head, a ringing in his ears marring the pleasant surprise.

Lotor puts the baby on this hip, “Oh.  I think you’re leaving, love.”  He comes and gives Keith a kiss on the forehead.  “You must have been sleeping for a long time.  You have a lot to get done, you know  Don’t make us wait too long to come home.”

The baby frowns, and Keith kisses its little hand, “I guess I’ll be seeing you.”

The baby opens and closes its sticky little palm, “Okay-dokey.”

* * *

 

“Oh, that’s good…”

Keith would agree if not for a splitting headache.  He opens his eyes to the familiar sight of Lotor’s room in Castle of Lions.  And he sighs, “Home.  It wasn’t that far away.”  He feels insistent pressure from behind him.  Familiar and warm, pleasure running up and down the length of his body while he wakes up.  His body is loose and wet.  It's not like Lotor to start without him, but this is one hell of a wakeup call.  He must have dreamt up the whole nightmare.  He moans, unconsciously holding his leg up, “Fuck yes.”

Lotor laughs, “There you are.  I was worried you passed out after the first round.  Again.  I’m going to have to start going easy on you.”  There's a kiss pressed to the back of his neck and Keith moans.

Keith wants to argue the point, just to be contrary.  But he feels so good, after such a nightmare.  He pulls away and rolls onto his stomach, thinking of something smartass to say and he goes speechless at the sight beside him.  Prince Lotor, with inky black hair.  “And another fucking beard,” he whispers shocked.  “What the fuck?”

Lotor laughs while slapping Keith on the thigh, “You have the filthiest mouth, you know that.  And as I’ve said for two years now, I’m not removing my beard.  My grandfather had one longer than you are tall.  I hope to live up to him someday.”  He actually twirls the end of the thing, “And you like having something else to pull.  I don’t know why you complain.”  He slaps Keith on the thigh again and tries to turn him over, “Now come here.  We have business to finish.”

Keith sighs and lets Lotor roll him over.  This time circling his hole with his finger, not his bulbous cockhead.  He seems happy to stretch Keith with three, then four fingers.  Keith keeps still, his mind a million miles away while he puts together his situation.  For starters, he’s not dreaming.  This is all somehow Slav’s fault... and oh, he thinks.  _This_ Lotor doesn’t kid around.  He’s trying to fist Keith with a damn little finger too.  Keith moans, “I’m good, I think.”

“Hardly.”  Lotor leans over to bite him on the neck, “You don’t want anyone calling me a villain, do you?”

Keith raises a brow, “Then shave the beard.”

Lotor gives him a good, full-bodied laugh.  Keith does the math in his head.  He’s already _wherever_ he is.  And he has two hours to be here.  He doesn’t know if any of the others are there.  And this is not his Lotor.  His Lotor would be freaking out about the damn hair and beard.  The man was was incredibly vain about his appearance.  Keith weighs the pros and cons of letting this play out until his next jump. 

One Pro being, and he thinks very carefully while eyeing Beard!Lotor’s cock, noting that this incarnation is just as well-endowed as his man at home.  Maybe even bigger.  If that’s possible.

One Con being, and he thinks this as he notices an unfamiliar scar on his arm, that this is not _his_ body.  And whoever he swapped with doesn’t have a say in this.  Even though it seems to already be very much in progress.  Keith puts a pause to everything when he puts it all together.  This isn’t his choice to make, he’s just borrowing time here.

Keith sits up quickly, “On second thought, I’m too… tired.”

Lotor looks disbelieving.  “Too tired.  After all that rest today.”

“Yep.”

“Too tired after you got me like this,” he points to his throbbing, swollen cock and where he’s leaking precum and clearly ready to get things going, “You’re going to play the _headache_ card.  Really?  Today?”

Keith doesn’t feel bad about leaving Lotor like he is.  For all he knows, the other Keith is going to be a very happy man when he deals with all that frustration later.  Keith rolls out of bed and smiles over his shoulder, “Don’t worry.  We’ll have plenty of time later.”

Lotor pulls his own hair, “I don’t have time for this.  You will come here!”  He snatches at the air between them, but Keith practically skips away, naked and teasing.  And it’s actually rather funny.  But he does have work to do.

“Look, babe.  I’ve got some things to check on.”

Lotor’s face is pinched like he’s about to start crying, “But that’s not fair.”

Keith chuckles, “I’ll be back.  Say in two hours?  Okay?”

Lotor all but whines and sinks to the bed, “I’ve chosen to take this one day off from my research and suddenly you’re too busy.  This does not please me, little lion.”

“Little Lion?”

Lotor looks at Keith like he’s grown a second head, “Fine.  Go on and leave me, you wanton whore.” 

Keith slips into a pair of pants and pulls a shirt on.  He escapes the room, despite Lotor’s sulking.  “Geeze, you’d think I cut his dick off, with the way he was acting.”  Keith gets two feet away from the room when he spots Shiro.  He waves, hoping he’s ticked off one paladin on his list and found his missing friend.

“Keith, you’re up.  I thought you were spending the day with the Galran Prince.”

Keith’s shoulder slump.  He wonders if there’s a way he can test his friends to make sure they’re the right one.  Shiro is his best friend in any universe, right?  Surely he can tell when he finds the right man.  “Are you saying that ‘cause it’s on the agenda or something?  Or is it… you… my Shiro?”

Shiro gives him a warm smile, “I had no idea.”  He comes forward and boxes Keith in, “So you do prefer me after all.”

Keith frowns.  “I _what_ the _what_ now?”  Shiro comes in close enough to kiss and Keith sinks to his knees, rolls and pops up, hands raised.  “What the hell!” 

Shiro laughs, “I don’t know what you’re pulling here, Lion, but if you’re trying to get every General and officer on base all twisted about you…”

“I’m not!”  Keith backs up to the wall.  He feels sick to his stomach, thinking of the jealous jerks in the Garrison that called him a rentboy.  But it's not possible, he thinks.  He would never sell himself for favors or something to his superiors.  He’s a pilot.  Arguably the best pilot in at least three known universes, damn it.  He doesn’t have to work on his knees for recognition.  “You got the wrong idea here!”

Shiro crosses his arms and looks Keith up and down, “Right, of course.  Well, the mission lists are out in two vargas.  Do you want to get a move on to your next mark?  I’m sure Kolivan is going to snatch you up first.  It’s not fair, how you favor the Galran traitors over your own people.”  He turns away and leaves Keith reeling in the hall.

Keith runs away, heading for his own room so he can regroup and figure something out.  Maybe research himself in this timeline.  When he gets there, he locks the door and scours his computer looking for any clue as to what kind of man he is in this place.

“The Golden Lion of Arus?”  All the pictures of himself are... scantily clad.  Keith frowns, "I look like one of the bimbos in Lance’s dirty cartoon mags!”

He finds footage of the other Keith attending official functions on the arms of notable officers in the intergalactic alliance.  There’s a clip of Allura debuting him two years ago, “My gift to the alliance, my ward Keith, the Golden Lion of Voltron.  A rare and beautiful find in the rough.  I believe he will make me proud, as a future leader of Alliance and as First Concubine, the first Heart of Hearts, and first Love for those worthy of having him.”

Keith stares at rotating 3d vid of himself bowing and accepting a sash and fancy tiara while some assembly applauses his handoff to Shiro and Lotor.

His gapes as he puts it together.  Then screams, “I’m married to the fucking army!”

 


	11. Chapter 11

He seeks out someone who could help him, and not draw him into the whole strange concubine thing.  And his feet take him naturally to Pidge’s lab.  In this strange universe, he finds her under a sign that reads, ‘Emerald Lion, the Great Thought’.  Its big and ridiculous and Keith prepares himself… just in case he’s somehow married to Pidge too.  But with his luck, he’s just walked in to meet the Great Wizard of Oz.

What he finds is a girl with long ponytails and a light green dress and Keith stares open-mouthed.  She flips lenses on a complicated headset while conducting a symphony of data from her fingertips.  She looks amazing and comfortable in her element.  The Great Thought is likely a well-earned moniker in this universe.  She turns and beams at him, “Yo, I thought you were spending the day with His Majesty the Pout-master?”  She gets up and rushes over, hugging him before slapping him hard on the back.  “I feel like we haven’t seen each other in ages!  Want to train some or run battle simulations?  Could you teach me to use that bah-bah-bah-bah!”  She punches Keith in the side then kicks him hard on the leg until he doubles over.

“Oh, for the love god!  Calm down, Pidge!”

“Pidge?  Matt’s gotten to you too, huh?  That tall jerk.  Lay off the Pidge stuff, _Keef_ -ster.  Or I will hurt you.”

Keith raises his hands in surrender, “Look, I’m already hurt.”

Pidge snickers, “Yeah butthurt…”  She grins and covers his face before barking out a laugh, “Oh man, I’m sorry! I know you hate to be made fun of, but seriously you have the worst job!”

“That’s not very sensitive,” Keith stands up straight, pouting over whatever it is she’s thinking.  “Besides that’s not really me.  I’m from another universe.”

The girl blinks at him, “Uh huh.  And I was born in the belly of a weblum.”

“Really!”  Keith takes his time and explains everything while the Not!Pidge stares on, looking excited.  She finally screams at the end of it and Keith sighs, “Is that necessary?”

“Nice to meet you, Keith, I’m Katie!”  She holds out her hand and screams again before running around the room, “I can’t believe I just touched someone from another dimension!  This is more freaky than even I’m used to and I love everything about it… but honestly, it’s weird seeing you with so many clothes on.  The Keith I know, even pilots in a thong.”

“Why in fuck’s name would I do that!”

“What’s a _fuck_?”

“Are you serious?  There’s no fucking in this timeline?”

She shakes her head, “Never heard _that_ word before.”

“Seriously?”

“Fuck… _fucking_.  Cool sounds. Fuck!  I can’t wait to tell Matt!”

“Stop that!  Don’t tell people I taught you that!”

“Fucking!”

“No!”

Keith sobs and sinks down to his knees.  Katie takes pity on him and pulls up a screen, “Let me see, let me see… I’m going to check you ViVi-B readings.  Ah, well.  There you go, your preliminary scan proves it.  There is something _way_ off about your head.  It’s all squiggles and wiggles in the wrong place.”

“Squiggles and wiggles?”

“The Lion of Love wouldn’t give a rat’s ass about the technical terms…”

“My brain waves are in a different pattern here because we’re different people.  Different experiences, maybe even different physically and genetically.  I’m at least half-Galran in my reality.  And my Pidge and Matt altered my DNA with a protein tag for intergalactic tracking and identification for our allies.  Is there any… hey, are you okay?”

Katie stares at Keith like a kid on Christmas morning, “You!  You _talk_ tech!  You’re not a just a flyboy hussy!”

“Hey,” says Keith.  He starts to defend his counterpoint’s life decisions, but Katie doesn’t really give him a chance.  She grabs him by the neck and squeezes.  Keith missed his own Pidge so much, he doesn’t hesitate to hug her back.  “Okay, okay.  I’m a secret nerd.  But look, I don’t have much time.  In less than two hours, your Keith will be back.  And I have to find a way to get my people together and slipping at the same time.”

Pidge drops him with enough force, Keith wonders how much weight the little girl is lifting during workouts in this reality.  She moves back to her consoles, “This is so exciting!  Things have been so boring since we killed Zarkon!  This is the coolest thing that ever happened to me.  A Geek Keith slipped into my timestream!  I wanna tell Hunk!  Oh, wait…”  She looks back Keith and frowns, “He might take it wrong.  And try and…  You know…”

“Fuck?”

“Oh, is _that_ what that word means?”

“Please forget I told you that.”  Keith knocks himself on the head.  “Just help me out.  We have to find some way to put it all together.”  He looks over his medical scan, “What’s this signature?”

“Huh?  That’s weird.  It’s like your head is beeping, but at a constant rate.  It looks unnatural.  A pattern of…”

“Oh wait, I remember!”  Keith claps his hands, “Clap on red, clap off blue, clap on red, clap off blue, means it you!  … or something like that.  The Holts so into color coding things…”

“What?”  Pidge stares while Keith repeats the sequence, “What are you… oh!  That’s genius!  A binary sequence!  Hidden data firing in the synapses of a brain that’s only detectable with positron emission!  And it is color coded!”

“You would call yourself brilliant, oh Great Thought.  Then can you decode what my Pidge wrote? Can you help me detect it in the others somehow?”

Pidge’s hands fly around as she types, her face split into a wide smile, “0010000000100000!  It’s not a very complicated password but there you go!  No one else would have a _brain_ that just does that!  Give me a tick!”  She turns a com, “Hunk!  I got something cool you’re going to want to help me build!  A commission from the Prettiest Lion!”  She smirks while Keith ducks and hides behind her chair. 

“I thought we weren’t going to tell anyone?”

Pidge shrugs, “Hunk is the best engineer like _ever_.  If you want to think of a way to track other’s like you, he’s your man.”

“Yeah but,” Keith barely gets the last word before all six feet of the man comes barreling towards him with a desperate look on his face.  “Fuck!  You got here fast!”

“Zipline,” huffs Hunk.  He stands up and presents them with a handful of flowers, “I know your attention is usually elsewhere, oh Golden one, but I promise to do my very best to satisfy!  I, Hunk, the Blue Beryl Lion…”

“Stop it,” says Pidge, “This isn’t really our Keith.  This guy is from another universe.  And we need your help getting him home.  So, our beloved hussy can swap bodies with him.”

Hunk’s face falls, “No temacking?”

“No temacking,” says Pidge.  “Besides he calls it…”

Keith covers her mouth, “I told you not to tell people that!” 

* * *

 

They work together for an hour trying to come up with an easy way for Keith alter any scanner to serve his purpose and track the emissions. 

Hunk laughs halfway through, “Hey, you know what the whole thing says when you run it in an old na-delta filter?  Property of Pidge and Matt Holt.  Don’t forget to double modulate!”  He and Katie find it very funny.  Keith ignores them trying to remember everything he learned in the short time. 

“Can you two please concentrate on helping me.  Time is ticking down.  I don’t know if I have much longer.  Two hours was just a rough estimate… what are you doing?”

Katie grins like a mad scientist while hovering over him, “What if I add a little something to that signature.”

“You’re not sticking me, Katie.”  She looks just about to do something but Keith sighs, “My Pidge said any tampering with her signature and she’ll shoot me on sight.  You really want to get me killed over a joke?”

Hunk pats him on the shoulder, “Poor guy.  If she’s anything like this one, she’ll do it too.”

Katie seems to agree, “Okay fine.”

Keith thinks he’s safe until Hunk’s hand claps around his thigh, “Is there any way I can ask you…”

“No.  No there isn’t.  You’re like a brother to me, Hunk.”

“But technically, I’m not your Hunk.”

“And technically this isn’t my body, and that other guy doesn’t have a say in the matter.  You want to him wake up and not know how he got under you?”

“Under me?”

“No… don’t give me any visuals…” Keith shakes head while a very dirty part of his imagination follows the thought, imagining himself riding Hunk while wearing little to nothing until he’s blushing.  “As I was saying…  We’re like brothers and that’s a no-go, big guy.  Big strong guy…”

Katie looks at him like she’s unconvinced, “Oh so you’re kind of a size queen in every reality, huh?”

“Fuck!  Would you stop saying stuff like that!”

* * *

 

Keith blinks his eyes open to a different room.

It’s full of light and there’s the sound of rushing water.  He must cover his eyes before peeking out to take in his surroundings.  He’s strapped into a lion cockpit and there’s a gentle hum in his head.  He smiles and relaxes in the seat.  “Red.  I missed you.  You’re not going to believe the day I’ve had…”

“Wouldn’t I?”

Keith snaps up, “Did you just…”  He looks around the cockpit.  Getting psychic impressions from the Lions is one thing.  Hearing voices is another.  “Red?”

“Akira?  … no.  You’re the other one.”

“You can talk?!”

“Of course,” echoes the voice.  “It’s the most effective way of communicating.  Is your lion mute?”

Keith scratches his head, “No.  Not really.  She talks plenty… but it’s usually a dignified and firm ‘gr-argh’ thing that tells me what to do.  Especially from Black Lion.”

“You can bond with two of us?  You must be very special.”  He feels her settling down on the surface of wherever they are and lets him out.

Keith takes in the sight of the animated talking Lion with awe.  “Wow, look at you!  You’re even more beautiful here, Red!”

The lion shakes from head to toe, preening with the attention.  “My thanks, Chief.  Do you know where we are?”

Keith looks around the unfamiliar landscape.  Tall crystalline trees, waterfall rushing into a great icy lake.  “This place is beautiful.  But what are we doing here?”

“Waiting for my Akira’s suitor.  Though he’s most unworthy of the attention.”

“You can tell us apart huh?”

“Of course.”  She nods, “I can see every version of myself, and every universe in all of time.  But it’s taxing to live such a way, controlling such a power takes… well.  A good pilot to guide.”  Keith gets the sense she’s smiling down at him.  “A good friend to keep me in the here and now.”

“I’m sorry I’ve displaced your Keith.  I should be slipping out again in about two hours.  Can I ask… do you know if any others from my universe are here?”

She looks into the distance, “Yes.  There’s one.  Back at the temple base, your Lance is being thrown into quarantine.  They think he’s infected with a parasite.  And the others are looking for you.  Shall I call Blue?”

Keith nods, “Yeah!  Let’s go meet up.  Maybe Pidge can help me find a way to keep us all connected.”  He starts to run up to the Lion but she backs away.  “What’s wrong?”

“It was a very important day in my paladin’s life.  He’s planning to elope with the unworthy one.”

“Unworthy… you don’t mean Lotor do you?”  Keith sighs, “Okay, well… maybe they can postpone doing the whole eloping thing for another two hours.  I’ve been waiting here long enough.  Let’s go.”

“He’s already here.”

A ship breaks into the clearing, and out comes two vassals.  Keith grins and waves, “Yo!  Corick and Maik, right?”

They look stupefied but Maik recovers, “Whatever.  He is a priest from Arus after all.  They’re all,” he circles his fingers around his head, “Ya, know.”

Corick agrees, “Still it’s pretty damn creepy.”  He clears his throat and gives Keith a half-assed bow, “His Majesty will see you now.  We will escort you to the ceremony grounds.”

Keith looks back Red and she looks disappointed, “What’s wrong?  You’re not a fan of Lotor in this time, huh.”

“His name is not Lotor…”

Keith cringes, “No.  Don’t tell me.  I wouldn’t… not Sincline…”

“My dearest!”

Keith’s shoulder falls and rolls his eyes.  Same voice, but _not_ the same voice.  “Sincline.”

“Akira!”

Keith feels himself being wrapped in a hug from behind and gives the man an awkward pat on the arm while he’s being squeezed.  “Hey… uh.  You.  Great seeing you.  But I’ve got somewhere to be, so we’re going to have to make this short.”  He pulls away and Red growls at them both.

Sincline is dressed like a fairytale prince, his hair long and white.  Rich purple robes and a damn crown on his pointy-earred head.  He's not much different from Lotor.  Except for the hopeful expression as he reaches out again.  Red roars at him and Sincline puts his hands up, “That thing!  I have a feeling it still hates me even after all this time.”

Red whispers in Keith’s head, _“The feeling is right.  Please, can I eat him before my Akira comes back?  It’ll be our little secret.”_

Keith laughs and shakes his head, looking back at the lion, “Behave!”

Red rolls her shoulders and turns her back on the scene while Sincline wraps Keith in his arms again.  “Thank you, my love.  We must away now if we’re to marry before the Witch finds me.”

“Not just now… I’m sure I’d love to… but I have urgent Voltron business.  Can’t we do this another time?”  He tries sweet talking the man with a big-eyed look.  “Please?”

“I’d deny you nothing, my little rose.  My love.  My beating heart…”

Red makes a gagging sound behind them and Keith tries not to laugh again while Sincline is in the middle of spouting poetry, holding him close while gesturing at their surroundings, “And this world will still be here, preserved and perfect.  Waiting for the day we finally come together as one!  And when we finally do make love, I will worship every bare inch of your, firm, youthful body until you succumb with tenderness!”

“Woah, wait a minute…” Keith looks back at the Lion.  “Have you been cock-blocking the poor guy?  Bad Red!  Bad!”

Sincline frowns, “What are you talking about?  Are you feeling okay?”

“Oops,” says Keith.  He pretends to wilt, “I feel a little faint to be honest.  I’m going home now.  I’ll see you soon.  Until then,” he stands up on his toes and kisses Sincline on the cheek, “My Handsome Prince.”

Sincline eyes water but he lets Keith go, waving sadly from the ground while Keith climbs up into Red’s head.  He can’t hold it anymore and finally laughs until his sides hurt.  “I’m a virgin in this universe?!”

“Well,” says Red, “You’re a Priest of Voltron.  They take holy vows to be pure enough to pilot Voltron.  In this universe, you’ve remained untainted by the unworthy one.  He, on the other hand, has been with many, many, many…”

“I get it…”

“Many others.  But for some reason, he swoons over having my poor untouched Akira.  And Akira is… well… stupid enough to believe the affection is genuine.  I can’t talk him out of it.”

“You don’t think Sincline is serious?”

“I’m sure of it.  He’s like every one of his incarnations.  He’s using my pilot.”  


Suddenly things are less funny.  Keith ducks his head, “Really?  Is that what you think?  Even the Lotor in my timeline…”

Red shakes her head, “I can’t stand seeing so much, alone.  But yes, I believe yours is just as duplicitous.  Has he never betrayed your trust?”

“It's not that… we’re just… I guess we’re used to forgiving each other for our faults.  He can’t help being a snake in the grass and I can’t help…”

“Being a hot-headed, desperate size-queen.”

“Right.  No, wait!  Take that back!”

“No.”

“I liked it better when you were quiet.”  Keith crosses his arms.  “Just.  Take me to Lance.  So, I can go home and have all the freaky sex I want with my alien boyfriend and his massively thick...”  Red gives her head a rough shake and Keith has to hold on tight, “I’m sorry!  I’ll shut up now!”

“Good,” growls Red before taking off. 

* * *

 

“I’m not crazy!  I’m not crazy!  I _am_ from another universe!”

Keith sits and watches a vid of Lance being taken away while hiding in the hanger.  “That’s right, buddy.  Get a first-class ticket to the padded cells.”  He shuts it off and looks up at Red, “Can you and Blue help us out of the Castle when I break him free?”

“Yes,” nods Red.  “We should go soon.  They’re sending for a Witch to scan him.  They’ll notice the change.”

“Right,” says Keith.  He writes the ViVi-B code Katie and Hunk taught him in the last jump and uses it to confirm he’s found the right Lance.  “Property of Pidge and Matt.  That’s funnier on other people.”  He wishes he could slip into his blade of Marmora stealth suit but settles for sneaking around in Voltron armor.

Finding Lance isn’t hard, but the hall is full of the other paladins.  All dressed in flowy robes and looking worried while talking in a huddle.  Keith whispers through his com, “Any way I can get a distraction?”

The Castle rocks with an explosion and roaring from the hangers.  All the paladins scream and run off to find out what’s happening.  Keith sneaks over to the cell and slips inside.  “Lance?”

Lance is crying in a corner, “Not you too!  Get lost Fake Mullet Head!”

Keith puts up his visor, “No Lance, it's me!  Real Mullet Head!  I’m from your universe too!  I’ve come to break you out!  We have to stick together for the next hour so we slip in time together.”

Lance gets up and runs over, “Keith!  Is that you!  Really and truly!  Man, you’re a sight for sore eyes!  Where the hell have you been?!”

Keith scratches his head, “The other me was meeting up with… well, it’s complicated.”

Lance looks unimpressed, “You were getting it on somewhere, weren’t you?  For shame, Keith!  In this universe, we are priests or something!  How dare you do that to your other you?!”

Keith shrugs, “Nothing happened!  Come on, let’s go.  I think we have to stick together for the slip thing to work right.”  He stops when hears Red's voice in his head, “Oh!  It’s more than proximity.  Come on, we have to get back to our Lions, they can help!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DID Y'ALL SEE MY BABY MEET HIS FANART MAMA??
> 
> I'm so happy, and Dreamworks definitely owes some kids monies on the interwebs.
> 
> I GOTTA HAVE MORE TEAM PUNK WITH SCRAMBOT THAT WAS FAB


	12. Chapter 12

Keith opens his eyes to the sight of a nice looking, soft brown cock nestled in dark curly hair.  He raises an eyebrow and sits up on one elbow, naturally thinking ‘oh nice.  I’mma put that in my mouth,’ but then he looks up and sees Lance sleeping peacefully. And promptly freaks out.

His resulting freak-out wakes Lance.  And Lance, taking in their mutually naked states, has his own freakout.  “Why are you!  When did you!  How could you!”

Keith gets up and out of the bed, “I didn’t do anything!  Hell!  _We_ haven’t done anything!  It’s the other us!  They were all… totally misguided obviously.”

“Excuse _moi_?  You’d be lucky if I were so inclined, Mullet Head, but thankfully I’m not!”  He gets out of the bed and covers himself with a pillow.  “You were totally staring at me!”

Keith merely shrugs, not feeling any shame,” You’re annoying.  Not ugly.”

Lance blushes, “…Thanks.  I think.” 

Keith smirks, “Besides you know what this means right?”

“In this universe, you have better taste in men?”

Keith gives him a flat look, “Ha-ha.  No, jackass.  It means the proximity in the Lion thing worked.  We’re together.  Now if we can find the others and slip out of here with them…”

“Right of course!  But first, let’s get dressed.  And lets never tell anyone in our universe this ever happened.”

“Agreed,” says Keith.

The door opens to Lance’s room and standing on the other side is a confused-looking Hunk, still wearing pajamas.  “Lance… whoa!  Your booty's out!  Keith, you too?  I don’t know what I’ve eating to make all these crazy dreams I’ve been having lately.  But this is right up there in nightmare territory.”  He looks Keith up and down, “One minute you’re all up in Lotor’s stuff, the next you’re a frog, and then a cat?  And Lance had these kittens…  And now here I am, waking up to this.”  He sighs, “I’m going back to bed and I hope the next time I wake up, everything is normal again.”  He yawns and closes the door on them.

Keith looks across to Lance, “Do you think that was _our_ Hunk?”

Lance cries into hands, “I hope not!  How am I going to live this down!”

Keith throws a pillow at him, “Just get dressed!  We have two hours remember?!  Let’s confirm and find a lion before the next slip!”

* * *

 

Hunk wait up!”  Keith gets to Hunk before the taller man can slip back into his room.  Hunk still looks confused and half-asleep, as Keith pushes him inside.  Keith turns and looks down the hall, “Hurry up, Lance!  No one is looking at us!”

Lance scuttles out from around the corner, rolls, then dives dramatically into the room.  “I’m not taking any chances after last time!”

Keith rolls his eyes and shuts the door on them all.  “Give me a tick, I have to write the Blip program to scan him.”

Hunk raises a brow but sits on his bed.  “What is going on?  I feel like I’ve been sleeping for way too long.  Every time I wake up it’s to something absurd.  Now I got you in my room talking like Pidge and Lance… covered in hickeys.”

Lance blushes and moves farther away from Keith, “It’s not like that!  He’s totally gaga for that giant purple dildo!”  Keith and Hunk stare while he reevaluates his words.  “Well, you are!  Not that I’m jealous or anything!  I’m not even into guys or Keith or anything!! I’m just saying it would never happen, not in a million, million years!”

Keith crosses his arms, “Thanks, bud.  Even though it clearly happened _here_.  And with that, the chances are it’s happened at least [ 17048 ](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Keith*s*Lance%20\(Voltron\)/works)times, even in universes where I was already involved with [Lotor](https://archiveofourown.org/works?utf8=%E2%9C%93&commit=Sort+and+Filter&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=revised_at&work_search%5Brelationship_ids%5D%5B%5D=277491&work_search%5Brelationship_ids%5D%5B%5D=276512&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=0&tag_id=Keith*s*Lotor+%28Voltron%29).  Or [Shiro](https://archiveofourown.org/works?utf8=%E2%9C%93&commit=Sort+and+Filter&work_search%5Bsort_column%5D=revised_at&work_search%5Brelationship_ids%5D%5B%5D=10209319&work_search%5Brelationship_ids%5D%5B%5D=276512&work_search%5Bother_tag_names%5D=&work_search%5Bquery%5D=&work_search%5Blanguage_id%5D=&work_search%5Bcomplete%5D=0&tag_id=Keith*s*Shiro+%28Voltron%29)!”

“What?”

“What?”  Keith scratches his head, “Sorry I have no idea where that came from.”  He turns back to Hunk, “We need to know if you’re one of us.  Do you remember working with Lotor and Slav to come rescue me in the Tele-rings?”

Hunk’s eyes get big as saucers, “Oh yeah!  That’s the last thing I remember before the weird dream about the frogs started!”  He gets up and shakes Keith, “You were kidnapped, and we were all bleeding out and Slav was screaming!”  His eyes well up with tears and he turns to Lance, “I thought you guys were dead but then Slav got us all to the healing pods!  And then we went after Keith!”

Lance scratches his head, “I don’t remember all that… I just remember the mission.  Going into the rings… Oh, wait yeah!  That was a few days later!”

Keith sits on the bed, “So _days_ passed in your time while I was with Sincline?  For me, that was just a couple of hours…”

Lance sits on the bed too, and they all go quiet trying to put the huge puzzle together.  Keith worries as Lance starts to get red in the face.  He finally explodes, “It doesn’t make sense!”

Hunk sighs, “We need Pidge.  In my last dream she was a like a kitten, but still really smart.  Like she could climb out of anything Shiro put us in.”  It’s Lance and Keith’s turn to stare at him.  He shrugs, “Yeah we were like little people-cats.  And Shiro and Allura were our owners.  I think.  But it was just a dream.  I think.”

“It was an alternate reality, Hunk.”  Keith pulls up the room’s computer, “And if you give me a minute I can make sure you’re actually the Hunk I’m looking for…”

Lance laughs, “You did not just say that!”

Hunk frowns, “What’s gotten into you?”

“He’s a virgin,” says Keith coolly. 

Lance flips out but Hunk nods, along.  “Oh.  That explains the desperation.”

“I am not desperate for anything!  Not everyone has to be a fast fanny, Galran---” He stops his little tirade mid-taunt and hangs his head.  “Nah, you’re right.  It’s not fair.  It’s like the whole universe is against me being this beautiful,” he says batting his eyes.

“Sure thing, gorgeous.  Mind being tragically untouchable over there, I think you’re messing up the readings… ah yes! He’s our Hunk!”

Hunk smiles, “You said it twice.  And I’m happy to hear it.”  He gets up and gives Keith a bear hug, “Now let’s go home!”

* * *

 

They split up to check out the castle and Keith finds Lotor, looking more Altean than he’s ever seen him.  Marks on his cheeks glow and he’s dressed like an alchemist, not a warrior.

“There you are.”  Lotor gives him a fond look, “Long morning I take it?”

Keith shakes head, “It’s nothing.  Hey, do you know what time it is?”  He passes his hand over the console and pretends to be looking it up while letting his code scan the man in front of him.  There’s nothing out of the ordinary from the Castle’s base files.  Lotor’s brain is doing what it’s supposed to do.  But he looks a little flustered and keeps his head bowed.  Keith’s heart aches for him.  He supposes in this world, Lotor is pinning after his Keith while he’s in love with Lance.  How tragic, he thinks.  “Sorry to bother you…”

“It’s no bother.  Do you want me to take a look at that?  I could service you if you’d like.”

Keith blushes, “No I’m good, really.”  He tries to back out of the room.  Thinking to himself, how sad that this Lotor is not being subtle about their attraction at all.  “Just came in to say hi.”

“And inquire about the time,” says Lotor with a smirk.  “We both know that isn’t true.  Do come here and let me help you.  You are half-Galran.  There are certain things that I can teach you that Lance can not.”

Keith can’t take it, “I’m sorry.”  He comes over and throws his arms around Lotor’s neck, “I’m sorry it has to be this way!  If I could change anything… but this isn’t my world to change.  And you’re not my Asshole!”  He misses his smug prince so much, and here a replica knows his pain.  He looks into Lotor’s poor confused face and takes pity on him, kissing him deeply and thinking of how terrible it is to find the man he loves stuck in a world like this.  Where Keith is already promised to Lance.

“Keith!” 

Keith pulls away, Lotor looks at the doorway, “Allura!”

“What on Arus are you doing to my husband!”

“It’s nothing dear!  He’s just out of sorts this morning, what with the baby and all…”

“What!”  Keith pulls away freaking out, “No, no, no!  It’s not what it… wait what baby!”

Lotor points to Keith’s belly, “You and Lance...  I know you’re trying to keep it quiet, but I want to help you through it if you’ll allow me.  I think all the unfamiliar hormones in your circulation has your mind unbalanced.  I’d like to get you to my lab for a full diagnostic.”

Keith slips away and runs past a fuming Allura and ignores the sound of her clearly smacking Lotor with something.  That was his bad.  He accepts that, but it’s time to move on and out of the way of danger.

“Guys!”  He screams over the com, “Lance and Hunk!  Help!  I just found out something terrible!”

Lance and Hunk are running down the hall and behind them, Shiro is giving chase.  Lance screams, “Don’t come this way!  He’s your brother or something and we made him mad!  Run man!”

Shiro stops and raises his robotic palm, an electric field generates and ensnares Lance and Hunk.  Keith runs up to them and looks at Shiro, “What was that for?”

“You know you’re not supposed to be running or fooling around in your condition!  I have half a mind to call mother and let her know what’s going on!  Get back to bedrest and if you two try and get him in any more trouble I’m going to cut you into halves and quarters!”

He turns away looking stern and alien while Keith pulls his friends free of the net.  “What the _fuck_ did you do?”

Hunk headbutts Lance, “This idiot tried to ‘dishonor’ you.  And your adopted brother back there took issue.  It was not a fun time.”  He looks at Keith, “So how you been?”

“I kissed Lotor.  But he’s married to Allura.  Also, I’m knocked up.  With Lance’s baby.”

Lance sits up, “Really, really?!  Wow!  Kolivan was right, I should-“

“Don’t.  I’m not breaking the bond with Lotor to have your kittens.  No matter what popular opinion says.”  He helps his friends up and checks his computer, “I’ve been running a scan on the lifeforms on the ship.  We’re the only three here.  We may as well prepare for the next slip and get cozy in a lion head.”

Hunk scratches his head, “Say what now?”

Keith explains what the talking Red told him about using the Lions as a vehicle to control how their consciousness slip when Slav resets the tele-rings on his end.

Hunk nods, “I get it, the proximity thing is working to get us to times and worlds where we’re already close by and not drifting on separate planets or something.  The more of us we find…”

“The easier it should be to get back to our own universe,” finishes Keith.

Lance gives them both a flat stare, “Seriously?  You expect me to believe you didn’t just pull that out your asses, ‘cause it was utter… wait a tick.”  He looks down at Keith's belly, “You’re going to have my baby!”

Keith rolls his eyes and turns away, “Come on.  We can talk about it in the lion.”

* * *

 

 

They end up in Black Lion.  Keith has a feeling she’s laughing at them all, but she’s not talking like the lions in the other universe.  “I guess this whole thing is pretty funny,” he says to no one in particular.

Hunk is sitting to the side of his seat and Lance is pacing just behind them and speaking rapidly in at least three languages.  He finally calms down and turns to Keith, “So how long do we have to wait around her exactly?”

Keith checks his timer, “I think another hour will do it.”

Hunk rests his one the arm, “I’m bored.  What can we do to kill time ‘til then?”

Keith thinks practical first, “I could teach you both the code Pidge give me.  In case we’re all separated, we could find each other again.”

Hunk nods, “That’s an excellent suggestion.  Let me look at that thing.”  Keith sends Hunk the data and he looks it over then laughs, “Oh yeah, I get it.  That’s easy enough.”  He smiles as he commits to memory in moments something that took Keith over an hour to learn.

Keith’s eye twitches but he turns to Lance, “Okay what about you.”

Lance’s shoulder sink, “I don’t feel up to it.  Too much is going on, and now you want me to do homework too? I’m too tired and hungry for homework.”

“Food sounds great right about now.  The last thing I remember eating was some kibble out of Papa Shiro’s hand.”  The other’s stare at him so he shrugs, “I was a good boy.  I got all the treats.”

Keith turns to Lance, “You got any weird hopping memories you want to share with the class?”

Lance blushes, “After we jumped, I first woke up back home.  Walking on the beach… with Jenny.”

“Jenny?”

Hunk sits up and points, “Jenny!  You finally asked one of them out!  Good on ya, buddy!”

Lance ducks and turns away, “I had a great time with a wonderful girl in a peaceful spot.  No war, no Galra.  No giant lion robots.  Then I woke up, in a world that was dark.  And everyone was scared and running all the time.  Galra ships were orbiting.  People were crying a lot…  And then I woke up a priest and got thrown into a cell while Mr. Lucky here was out defiling his counterpart's body.”

Keith rolls his eyes, “Nothing happened.”  They look at him expectedly and so he finally spills, “I may have met a couple versions of myself that were a little on the loose side.”

“How loose?  Like on the scale of 1 to Messing with Lotor on a Diplomatic Mission?”

“Try Married to Lotor, then Married to the Army.”

The other boys visibly cringe.  Hunk pats him on the shoulder, “I hope you’re okay.  That doesn’t sound… right.”

“I’m fine.  I wasn’t a sex slave or anything.  I saw some interesting things.  Good, hopeful things.  Things I never thought I’d have…”

“While married to the Army?”  Lance gives him slow look up and down, “God you must be so sore…”

Keith bites down the impulse to have Lance thrown out or eaten. 

* * *

 

 

The next jump seems to be on a planet, not the castle.  Keith wakes up in a tent and with an aching body.  He looks down at himself and sees he’s covered in bruises and his right ankle is chained to a post.  “The fuck?  Where am I this time?”

The tent flaps blow open and he gets a brief glimpse of a strange world with purple grass and green sky.  He tries to pull free, but the chain doesn’t give.  So, he looks around the tent more carefully.  He’s sits on a strange animal pelt, surrounded by ancient-looking armor and chests overflowing with jewels. He’s dressed in a sheer flowy robe.  And barefoot, because why not, he thinks.   Keith rolls his eyes, “The hell kind of medieval Ren Faire did I slip to?”  He yanks again on the post and gets an electric shock up the leg.  “Ow!  Fuck!”  He rubs his poor unsuspecting leg vigorously, “Okay.  Not so primitive then.  Where am I?”

“Awake at last, Lion?”

“Shiro?”  Keith says looking at the tall figure standing just in the tent.  He’s got long white and black hair and a nasty expression, one Keith’s not sure he’s ever seen before.  Shiro focuses his mean-eyed stare on him and Keith wants to hide behind something.  But deep scars that crisscross Shiro’s face.  Keith can’t help feeling worried first, “What happened to you?  Are you alright?”

The man before tilts his head, “Odd little thing aren’t you?  You were a hard one to knock down.  But now it seems the soldiers were a little too rough on that pretty head of yours.”  He whistles and what appears to be two Galran soldiers come in and salute him.  He turns on them and cuts their throats.  Keith shrinks away from the bloody bodies but Shiro just steps over them, “Don’t worry.  You’re not scheduled to change hands anytime soon, Lion.”  He sits down and crosses his legs in the only chair in the tent.  “Now, we have much to discuss.”

“I just bet.  So, where are my people?”  He guesses Lance and Hunk had to be nearby for the slip to work.  And he hopes they’re fairing better than him right now.

“The big man might be useful.  He’s got a head on him for figures.  Whenever he comes around, he’ll be shipped out.  That little one… is kind of useless.  I think I’ll throw him straight to the lower ranks to serve whatever needs they want.”  He gives Keith a sinister smile, “But you should be more worried about I’m going to do with you, little Lion.  After all, you stole what was rightfully mine.  What do you think I should do with you?”

Keith shrugs,” Let me go?  Free my friends?  Get a haircut?”

Shiro laughs, hard and long then sits back and sighs when he recovers.  “Ah, that was good.  Honestly, you haven’t changed, have you?  Still a rebellious little street punk?  I’ve missed you, Lion.”  He gives Keith a fond, familiar look before his eyes get mean again.  “But you must know, you have to pay for betraying me.”

Keith’s head is swimming from the slip and the physical pain and shock of seeing Shiro, whole but obviously crazy.  “Look, man.  I have one crazy story to tell you, but I need you listen.  Like really listen.  Let us explain everything.  There doesn’t have to be any more violence here.”

Shiro looks to the dead guards, “Oh I see.  You think you talk your way out this predicament?”  He gets up and calls someone in to drag the bodies out. Then ties the tent’s flaps shut.  He faces Keith with his shoulders thrown back and his head up like he’s squaring himself for a challenge.  “I’m not giving you up, Lion.  This time, you're staying by my side.  Even if I have to keep you tied down.”

Keith leans back while Shiro looms over him, a bad feeling going up his spine, “You ah… you don’t have to have to get excited there, Shiro.  Look at me, okay?  I’m not resisting arrest or anything.  We’re just talking, right?”  Please, thinks Keith to himself.  Let this _not_ go badly… not with Shiro of all people.  Shiro seems to have other plans.  He strips slowly out of his archaic looking armor, revealing a hard body covered in scars.  He’s one towering, manly specimen.  Keith sighs to himself, “Ah fuck.  I’m screwed.”

“Keith!”

“Lance!”  Keith looks away, never so thankful to be cockblocked in his whole life.  “Lance!  In here!”

Shiro growls and turns around, leaving his armor on the ground.  “Stay quiet!  I’ll deal with you later!”

“Kay,” says Keith.  “But I don’t think we have time to explore this whole caveman kink thing, but don’t feel bad!  It is a turn on!”

Shiro looks at him with a confused, but fond expression on his face.  “You’re still a strange little-“  He gasps as Hunk knocks him over the head.  Lance barges into the tent with half a Sentinel's arm and a weird crossbow.

“Dude!  Why are you dressed like that?!”

Keith looks down, and sighs, “I don’t know man.  Maybe I’m a princess or something.  Stop asking stupid questions and get me out of here.”

Hunk helps him up.  “You’re definitely tied up like a damsel in distress.”  With one yank, he pulls up the post and the soil it was rooted in.  Keith pats him on the shoulder but he’s body hurts too much to be useful.  Hunk bends down and carries him on his back, chain and all dragging behind him.

They walk out of the tent and over Shiro’s prone body.  They seem to be on a small plateau, and Lance leads them all to the edge and points, “There!  It’s Blue!  Hey, girl!  We need a ride!”  The lion is running in their direction, but behind them, Shiro appears to be stirring.

Keith climbs down, “Hey did you see anything like transport in this camp?”

Lance holds up the sentinel hand fires a beam from its palm, “Not really.  Just these weird robots that have like really weak security codes, according to Hunk.”

“Super weak,” says Hunk.  “It was like hacking out of preschool.  I wonder why this universe is so primitive?”

They hear Blue roar and turn back to the cliffside.  “We’re going to have get down there,” says Keith.”

Lance fires another shot at Shiro to keep him back, “Or maybe we can wait.  Blue is faster than fast and will soon be here to put us in her loving maw.”

“Guys… I don’t know about that.  She kind of stopped.”

The three of them turn to the lion and call out to her, “Come on!”  Keith waves his hands, “What are you waiting for?!  Help us!”

Shiro laughs behind them, “Why on Feyiv would my vessel ever respond to the likes of you?”

He walks up to them holds them at gunpoint while reinforcements arrive and pin them down.

Hunk raises his hands in surrender and Lance freaks out turning to Blue, “What!  You two-timing little-!  How could you?!  We have a _thing_!  A _thing_ across all time and space!”

“Silence,” says Shiro.  He fires a shot that stuns Lance, then Hunk.  Then looks at Keith with a smile, “But you three… you really don’t know what’s going on?  Do you?”

Keith wonders how long they have before the next slip and looks back at the uncooperative lion.  “Well.  Shit.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It a personal peeve of mine that main pairing lists would be topped with popular side pairings from irresponsible tagging. For Shame, y'all. I wish ao3 would do something about that. Revenge tagging (*evil cackling*) Okay that's not going do anything but I feel better.


	13. Chapter 13

Shiro has them taken further into the camp where a ship comes down and loads them into a ship transporter.  Keith panics, wondering how much time they have before the next slip.  “Guys?  Wake up, guys.  We have to do something!”

“Quiet,” says Shiro.  The High Witch will get some answers out of you.”  He smiles at Keith and that mean look is back, “Whatever you all are, she’ll find out.  In the most painful way possible.  You’ll be lucky if I still want to keep you afterward.”

The doors open and Shiro bows while the guards all shove Keith, Lance, and Hunk onto platforms and shield them in containment fields.  They look like three goldfish, thinks Keith, and he settles for crossing his arms and Looking Sullen™.  Hunk seems to be throwing up and Lance is throwing a tantrum.  He’s ignored for several ticks but then a guard nonchalantly shocks him with a baton.  Then he’s just quiet and drooling a little.

Ahead of them, a massive chair on an ominous raised dais turns around.  Keith fully expects another Lotor or Sincline, knowing how much the man loves a throne.  But he ends up staring with wide eyes at Pidge, sitting there in a floor-length emerald dress with long nails, and her hair done up in jewels and elaborate curls.  She looks like she’s going to prom.

“Right, cause I’m a Witch,” says Pidge.  Keith wonders if it's his imagination, but the girl seems nervous under the scrutiny.  “So, um… why don’t you guys clear out and let me deal with this problem?  In the most villainous way possible of course.  Because I’m a Witch.”  She tacks on a half-backed cackle and stands up uneasily on her high heel shoes.   "See?  I'm not asking here.  I'm totally going to do something evil."

Shiro stands up and gives her a salute, “As you wish Head Druid, master of the arcane and builder of Zarkon’s future!  Vrepit Sa!”  He clicks his heels and exits with his little entourage.

As soon as he’s gone, The Head Druid runs down the platform and deactivates the fields.  “I scanned all of you earlier and if my readings here are right, you actually belong to me!  And thank goodness!”  She goes to each of them in turn and hugs them, “I missed you guys!   You would not believe what I have been through!”

Lance flicks her dangling earring, “Looks like you landed okay in this universe, Head Druid master builder.  What does that even mean?”

Pidge shifts around, squeezing her chest and the constraining corset top of her dress and stepping out of one shoe before hiking her dress up and tying the ends until it looks like a romper, “I don’t know!  Would you guys help?  This thing is impossible to walk in!  Hell, it's hard to breathe in it!”

“Language,” says Hunk while assisting her to get out of the strappy shoes.

“Thank you!  God!  How could anyone walk in those?!”

Hunk helps her down and holds all the sparkly baubles as she carelessly casts them off, “It must a grown-up lady thing that just takes practice.”

Keith shrugs, “It’s not that hard.”  Everyone stares at him and he blushes, “Well it’s not.”

Lance raises an eyebrow and wiggles a finger in Keith’s direction, “Oooookay.  There’s a story there.  And I want to get back to it with pictures if possible.  But we have a psycho Shiro and whatever’s going on with Pidge’s evil lair and my poor brainwashed baby out there.”

“And the next slip,” says Hunk.  He takes off the jacket his counterpoint was wearing and gives it Pidge, “We have to establish how much time has passed and get back to a Lion that will at least cooperate.”  Lance makes a sad noise and Hunk pats him, “Sorry man.  She’s just not that into you, in this universe.”

Lance sniffles, “Whatever.  There are four other lions.  If we were captured…”

Pidge smiles, “And so were your lions.  We have the Black, Green, and Yellow lion here.  They handed them over to The Witch,” she says making air quotes.  “But what do we need them for?”

Keith starts to give her the story about talking Red, but Hunk has her full attention with a jargon-filled explanation that goes over his head.  Lance doesn’t look like he’s faring much better.  “Hey you two science bros, that’s enough.  We are wasting valuable time running a recap wheel.  Now, where’s your lion?”

Pidge pouts, “That’s the thing.  Not one of them would respond to me.  Not even Green.”  She sniffles and turns to Lance, “I feel your pain.”

“I know right?”

“Get it together.  We can… we can talk them into it.  Come on.”  Keith’s not sure where he’s going but he’s sure if he walks like he knows, he’ll eventually go the right way.

“Wrong way,” says Pidge.

“I knew that,” says Keith, turning on his heel.  “I know everything.  Let’s get out of here before I’m molested by Shiro.”

* * *

 

 

 

“I don’t know what’s going on,” says Keith a few minutes later.  They’re standing on a catwalk deep inside the evil lair while looking down at the three lions who aren’t saying a peep.  He throws his hands up, “I’m ready to go home now.  This universe is getting on my damn nerves. And Shiro might try and have his way with me if I stay here any longer… and what’s worst is I won’t mind having that big…”

“No!”  Says Lance.  He covers Keith’s mouth with his hands and yells, “Don’t you dare put that image in my head!  I’m too young and pure to be thinking that!”

Keith raises a brow and mumbles, “I’ve seen your mags.”

Lance blushes and pulls away and shushes him, “Keep that to yourself.”

Hunk shrugs, “We’ve all seen it.”

Pidge nods, “Made a day of it once.  Raided your whole stash under Kaltenecker.  Who keeps dirty magazines under a cow?”

Lance shrinks, “Please stop talking.  I’m ready to go home, too.”

The Black Lion roars in Keith’s head and points over them.  Until now, none of them responded.  “I got a thing!  It’s Black Lion, she says… ‘oh, it’s you guys.’  I think she realizes we’re not the enemy here.”

They all turn to see the lions let their barriers down and Black Lion steps up and opens her mouth.  Pidge smiles up at her, “Thank you!”  She turns to Keith, “Do you know when we can go back?”

Keith shakes his head, “All I know is we have to all find each other.  But this is good right?  Four out of six ain’t bad.  We might just make it after all.”

“Six?  You mean seven,” says Lance.

Hunk and Pidge both seem to have ‘a-ha’ moments at the same time.  “Slav!”

Keith frowns at them all as they settle into the Lion.  “Slav?  What do you mean?  Isn’t he home?”

Pidge starts, “Kind of.  He started this reaction, not with a trip to find you, but by resetting time to warn himself to get to us faster, to save our lives, and send us after Sincline.”

Hunk nods, “I’d forgotten!  I couldn’t tell what I was dreaming up and was fact.  It’s all a blur.”  He pinches Keith on the cheek.

“Ow!  What gives?”

“Had to be sure I’m not still dreaming.”

“Then you pinch yourself, you jerk!”

“What would be the point of only having one variable!”

* * *

 

Keith blinks, his mind coming to in a world where’s he staring up at a mirror.  He stares at himself, lying in a bed with dark violet sheets, wearing nothing but strategically placed thin strips of laces and gold chains.  He sighs and covers his eyes, “Again!?  Really?  Can’t I ever wear pants?!”

“Who are you talking to?”   Keith looks over to see Lotor sitting naked on the floor with a bowl of carwirna up to his mouth.  He takes a princely slurp before putting it down.  “I’m starting to think you had too much.  We can try again later, you know.  You don’t have to give me heirs right now.  We have all the time in the world now that the war is over.”

Keith rolls his eyes, “Again with this?  Can we just… hang out and talk or something?  Why the fascination with knocking me up?”  He notes his body is sore, wet, open, and a little feverish.  He guesses that going through his weird Galra puberty while Lotor’s around in any universe always end the same way.

Lotor seems to be chewing on the thought, or maybe just a spicy noodle.  He ends up shrugging, “You’re in a mood all of a sudden.  You do get snitty and impatient, don’t you darling.”  He strokes his cock until its half hard, and in a deeper voice shakes the thing in Keith’s direction, “You will incur the wrath Sincline!  Sincline will deal with you when he’s good and ready!”  He laughs at his little joke and looks up hopefully.  Keith just stares and but he continues, “Sincline the almighty will bury into your very core and shake your foundations until you are reduced to simpering, lovesick slave!  Hahahahah!”

Keith frowns, “Is this like thing that we do here?  Cause I don’t get it.  And who came up with naming your penis and making it talk… oh, wait.  No, we do that too sometimes.  Except with sock puppets.”

Lotor looks confused and closes his legs.  “What are you talking about?  Don’t you think it’s funny anymore?”  Keith leaves him hanging and he pouts, “Fine.  Do you want me to just ignore you and leave it to someone else?  Is a lowly Prince not enough?  You want me to summon Zarkon himself to deal with your appetites?”

“God no!”  Keith sits up straight and tries to shake the image out of his head.  “You twisted asshole!  Why would you say something like that!?”  A talking penis is one thing, but mentioning Zarkon is a whole ‘nother thing, thinks Keith.

Lotor looks at him with his head tilted, “You really _are_ in a mood.  Lie down.”  He gets up while combing his fingers through his own hair.  He twists it into a loose bun, knotted in at the back of his neck and grins.  “Prepare yourself.  I’m going to end your suffering right now.”

Keith frowns, “That’ sounds unnecessarily combative- Ah!”  He should have prepared himself, thinks Keith.  He ends up under Lotor in a few quick movements, legs spread, and ankles on Lotor’s shoulder.  “Wait!  No!”

Lotor freezes, “What’s wrong, dearheart?” 

Keith sighs, “It’s complicated.  But… I have a feeling you’re not the kind of guy who would force himself on someone unwilling, right?”

Lotor lets his legs down and gently checks Keith’s arms and thighs, “Did I harm you?  I was only teasing, love.  I’m so sorry.”

“I’m alright, really.”  Keith pulls away and sits back near the enormous headboard, “But I have something to tell you that’s going to sound crazy.  And I don’t want you to think I’m just trying to blow you off or hurt you.”

Lotor looks crestfallen, “Its because I mentioned the Emperor?  You can still go to him if that’s your wish…”

“That is not it!”  Keith cringes and shakes the thought out his head with enough force to make himself dizzy.  “E-yuck!  Just stop talking.”  Lotor sits there quietly like he’s waiting on an executioner.  “Look, I’m not who you think I am.  My name is Keith Kogane, and I’m a paladin of Voltron.  I don’t know what this is,” he gestures to himself and the ridiculous not-there get up.  “This is not me.  I’m from another world, another universe.  My consciousness is just inhabiting this body.  I have to find Pidge, Hunk, Lance, and anyone else from our universe and then get to a Voltron Lion to slip out.  Then your Keith or whatever you call him can return and he can talk to your dick all you want.   I think.  I’m not exactly sure on that last part but it seems about right.”

Lotor nods, “I see.” 

Keith worries the man is going to call him crazy and throw him out.  Or call a doctor.  Or turn him in…

“So how much time do we have?”

Keith blinks, “Time?  Oh, you mean to get your Keith back?”  He rubs his neck feeling a little hot and achy as well.  “Each slip lasts about two hours.”

Lotor gives him a slow smile and leans forward, “Two whole hours, you say?”

Keith pushes Lotor back by the chest, “Yes, but did you miss the other part?  I’m not the one who can consent for this body.  And you’re not my Prince.  And time is short.  I have to find my friends and locate a Lion before its up.  And there’s no telling where they ended up…”

Lotor stops him with a kiss and another smug grin.  “Here in our shining peace palace.  I know they’re all here to silently support our new bond.  The Pigeon is up in the replicator laboratory.  The Hulking one is down in the mine examining the droids and The Talking one is trying to escape Ezor’s affections.”

Keith lights up, “They’re all here!  Great!  We got to meet up and get this thing going…  What is your hand doing?”

Lotor persistently kneads Keith’s thighs and parts his legs then settle in close again, “Aren’t you the least bit curious?  Another me, another you?  I know my Keith has a voracious appetite for new and exciting experiences and would leap at the chance.  Aren’t you curious?”

Keith crosses his arms.  “Oh no, you don’t.  I’m not going to be talked into breaking the rules.  I’ve faced all sorts of temptation, and I haven’t once cheated on my Lotor… well, not _all_ the way.  Not _intentionally_ anyway.  But I have rules now and I’m going to stick to them until this over.”

“You and your Lotor are bound close?  Already married and breeding?”

“I really hate that ‘b’ word, but yes.  Kind of… Fuck.  No.  But we’re getting there in like fifty years, I think.”

Lotor smiles, “Then what’s the harm in indulging a little mischief,” he pinches and slides his hands up higher, rubbing a palm over Keith’s not-so flaccid cock.  “Tell me, who’s going to complain?  My Keith is looking forward to an end of his present torment.  We were only taking a little break to eat but,” he slides a finger to where Keith’s hole is wet and stretched, “We are already very started.  And I know this body is not yet sated.”

“Maybe, but the other me is not piloting right now and that’s not fair.”  Lotor starts stroking and twisting his wrist while his one very familiar finger crooks in Keith’s ass just the right way.  “Oh my god, do that again,” says Keith hitching his hips with every stroke of his cock and the plunge of Lotor’s fingers twisting in and out.  “I mean… shit.  Don’t talk me out of having principles!  I’m thinking about myself.  I mean my _other_ self.  And what if my real body is being used by someone too?”

“A mortal body is just a shell, a thing containing all that we are in essence, but not the whole of ourselves.”

“You are so full of shit.”

Lotor laughs but drives his hands faster, “Maybe so.  But you want this, and I want this.  And wherever my dearheart is, I’m sure he wants it.  As his husband, I consent on his behalf.”

“Bullshit.  As his… other him… I um,” he pants while rolling his hips, “Fuck.  I am, FUCK!”

“That’s right,” says Lotor.  He grins and pushes until Keith is flat on his back, legs back in the air.  “That’s right, dearheart.  You’re doing us a favor.  And I’ll make sure to take care of you quickly.  Two hours is plenty of time.”

Keith bites his lip, uncomfortable with this logic but his counterpoint is indeed in the hazy end-of-cycle heat.  He feels it more and more with every tick, his body flushed and his hole clenching and desperate.  “Just the once.  Thirty minutes and we’re done here and I’m going to go look for my people.”  Lotor smirks and Keith squeezes his arms until his nails leave scratches.

Lotor lines up and slides in with one easy glide.  He tried not to stare at the naked man, but he knows this.  He knows this body.  And every inch of that cock.  Keith sighs, his mouth hanging open while he stares up at the mirror.  He curses Slav and his stupid prediction.  He definitely looks the part of a sex slave.  The gold chaining chimes with every thrust like a chorus of bells that offset with every wet slap of skin.  He watches with half-lidded eyes as Lotor’s back muscles move, the shape of his ass, the line of his thigh.  The sight makes Keith’s mouth water.  Lotor fits two fingers pasts Keith’s lips and he gratefully sucks, moaning while the heat blurs his mind and has his focus on thoughts of how big this Lotor is.  How controlled he is.  How beautiful.  He’s a carbon copy of his Prince, nothing is alarmingly different.  So, Keith closes his eyes and pretends.  He mumbles around the fingers, “Do me a favor?”

“Anything,” pants Lotor while settling to the base of his cock and gently rocking the entire length into Keith.  He sucks a mark on Keith’s neck and admires it before licking Keith's neck.  Keith watches the whole thing in the mirror and feels himself close to coming.

Close but not quite, he thinks.  He gasps with every slippery drag of skin while clutching on Lotor’s shoulders.  “Could you call me Little Red?”

Lotor kisses him on the cheek.  “Little Red?  Yes.  I think that suits you.  The Red Blade.  Little Red.  I like it.”  He kisses Keith on the mouth and Keith lets him.

“Fuck,” moans Keith.  He bares his neck and lets Lotor bite and nip him there while his hands grab the bun and pull it loose until white hair is curtaining his view.  He strokes his fingers through the hair and notices the first real difference from his Lotor since the haze took over.  This man’s hair feels different but Keith's not sure why.  Maybe because it’s greasy or sweaty, but his memories of Lotor’s hair is always clean, polished, and silky.  He smiles at the thought as Lotor comes inside him.  “Fuck,” he says again.  “I was so well-behaved until this point.”

Lotor kisses a path down his chest, down his lap, kisses the tip of Keith’s cock before licking the head.  “I just bet you were, Little Red.”  He grins up at Keith.  And to Keith, it’s the same infuriating, smug Prince that offered him water all those months ago.  Keith’s toes curl and Lotor looks surprised as the cock jerks and comes all over his face.  He rolls his eyes and sits up on his elbows, “You little shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm thinking of writing a companion sequel to follow up with what happens to the counterparts after Keith and company depart. And this one would be smutty as hell. I might do it.


	14. Chapter 14

Keith wakes up to the same sight of Lotor, naked on the floor eating noodles.  He gives the man a soft smile and stretches.  He’s dressed now in some silky pants and feels clean like he had a good bath.  Lotor looks fresh out of a shower or bath as well.  Keith smirks down at him, “I can’t believe I got away with that…”

“Oh, you wish!”

Keith freezes, his eyes tracking before his head and body can catch up.  Turning around he sees Hunk, Pidge, and Lance.  And they all look terribly annoyed.  Keith gives them a little wave.  “Hey, guys.  You made it.”

Lance is red in the face, “Yeah well, no thanks to you!  That naked sex yogi over there came and got us _after_ you too did the naked mambo!  What were you thinking!  We have work to do!  We have places to be!”

Hunk takes Lance by the shoulders and turns him around then whispers to Keith, “He’s just mad because he thought he was going to get lucky with that deadly bendy snake lady.”

Pidge and Lotor laugh while Lance hides his face in Hunk’s shirt.  “That’s not entirely true,” he mumbles.  “All I know is she thinks I’m cute and funny all of sudden.”

Lotor chimes in carelessly, “Our skinny boy has charmed the pants off all my royal guards at one point or another.  Ezor is simply his latest fling but last I heard, he was after some wreaker girl.  He’s quite the loverboy, our Lance.”

If Lance’s jaw could unhinge and hit the floor, Keith imagines it would.

Pidge laughs, “I wish I could record this.”  She starts to sit on the bed but seems to think better of it and stands awkwardly over Keith, “This place is amazing!  And though it was fun taking a grand tour of a Galra palace, we gotta slip outta here like an Altean grandpa.”

Lotor points to the balcony doors.  “Your ride is out there.  I suppose you have another ten… no nine dobashes.  Have fun.  Hurry and return my little pet to me.  I want to try out this _Little Red_ thing for his reaction.”

Keith blushes while Hunk helps him out of bed.  They all get quiet while settling in the cockpit of Red Lion.  Keith squirms uncomfortably in his seat and hopes no one notices.

So of course, everyone notices.

Lance hangs over the chair and stares at his neck, “Can’t you control yourself for even two measly hours.  You look like you were mauled by an animal.”

“Yeah, and I wasn’t going say anything,” says Hunk, “But what’s the other Keith going to think when he limps back into his reality?”

Keith sinks into his seat and pins his knees together, “He’ll think he blacked out or something and had weird sex with his husband during his cycle.  But Lotor promised to tell him everything and apologize for me.  And I think I’ll forgive myself given the circumstances.”

“Which one?”  Pidge ticks off fingers, “The one where you had sex with someone else’s guy, in someone else’s body, in someone else’s bed…”

“But look at the bright side,” says Hunk.  If that Lotor was so similar to ours maybe their Keith is also a wanton ah,—” he claps hands over his mouth, thinking better of his next comment.

Keith sighs, wishing he could disappear.  “That rounds the total number of people I’ve fooled around with to a whopping five.  And _three_ of them were Lotor.  I’m not a completely undisciplined whore.  Despite my interdimensional reputation.”

Hunk pats on the head, “Sorry man.  I didn’t mean it to come out like that.  I know this is hard for you, too.  Let’s just go home so you focus on only have your skinny little ass in the air for one Galra leader.”  Keith rolls his eyes and Hunk laughs, “What?  You think I’m going to let you go into the next slip with that frown on your face?  Quick, somebody get me a burrito.”

“Don’t!”  Says Pidge.

Lance shrugs, “If I had one, buddy, it’d be all yours.”

Hunk nods, “Guess we’d have to go with the tried and true.”  He proceeds to belch the Galaxy Garrison’s alma mater.

And try as he might, Keith can’t keep a straight face.  He punches his friend in the arm.  And holds his breath while looking around at them all.  “At least we’re getting closer right?  No more weird swaps to freaky cat planets or anything.”

They all nod in agreement.  Things might be looking up.  They might be closer to home.

* * *

 

Keith finds himself running down an unfamiliar hall from a handful of Galra guards chasing him.  And in front of him, Pidge is riding a food cart and throwing packets of food goo.  He ducks, barely dodging a few.  “What gives!”

Pidge blinks and goes still while looking at the goo in her hand as the cart speeds along.  She shrugs and continues her assault, “I’m sure I had good reason!”

“Get them!”  The guards behind Keith shout for assistance but the other Galra soldiers seem uninterested in becoming involved.  Keith stops to really take in the place, stepping out of the way while the soldiers chase Pidge around the corner.  He looks around what appears to be a central hub and notices a large star map amongst reports about trading.  It’s not exactly a military base and soldiers mill about, completely unbothered by two Paladins running in the halls. 

Hunk waves up at him from the helm pit, “Hey, Keith!  Guess what I just did?”

Keith runs down to the circle of computers.  He catches his breath and explains, “Pidge is piloting a food cart and assaulting random soldiers.  But no one seems to be mad.”

Pidge circles around on the deck above and this time Lance seems to be riding the shoulders of robot sentinel.  Keith raises a brow and sighs, “What the hell is going on?”  He looks to Hunk for a good, reasonable answer.

Hunk knocks on the console it opens.  He offers Keith a tray, “Popsicle?  I noticed the other me had a timer waiting for them to finish.”

Keith slaps his head, “What the hell is going on here?”

Hunk shrugs, “I don’t know.”  He shoves a popsicle in his mouth and his fingers get busy on the computer, “I’m running the search for our Holt tags and not finding anyone else from our universe… Wait, no.  There’s you.  Me.  Pidge.  Lance.  And Ryou?  Who the hell is Ryou?  Did Ryou follow us in or after you?”

Keith idly takes up a popsicle.  “I don’t know.  Maybe it’s a trap or something.”

“What?  We’re on a friendly Galra ship surrounded by chill dudes who let me make snacks at the helm and you think it’s a trick?  I think it’s the perfect universe.  Look at Pidge.  Look at how happy she is up there playing with her… heck, I bet the other Pidge altered that robot.  It’s a like a Fun Bot.  Look it at go!”

For sure, there’s an animated robot leading Pidge and Lance on some kind of low-speed chase on little hoverboards with two hapless guards chasing after them on a damaged one-wheel scooter that sparks across the floor.  Keith sighs, “Okay then that leaves just the two of us to get to work.  We have to find the Lions and whoever this Ryou person is and… Hey!  Are you paying attention?!”

Hunk bends over to examines his counterpoint's shoes and squeals, “Hey!  Space wheelies!  Nice!  See ya, Keith!  Let me know when you find the lions!”  He takes off after Pidge and company with a wave and all the popsicles.

“Bastards,” says Keith sucking his popsicle.  He checks the location of the Ryou person and heads in that direction, his shoulders slump with the weight of being the only adult on the Mission.

* * *

Keith’s not sure how he ended up in a Galra arcade.  But he did.

The funny thing is, he never really enjoyed places like this on Earth because he found the games too easy and the graphics uninspired.  But he finds himself sitting in a Galra battle simulator flying an advance ship that’s hard to control but he learns to maneuver it after a few levels and he's not sure how much time passed but he ends up roaring every time his name jumps up the leaderboard.  “Yeah!  Take that!”

There’s a soft tap on the glass of his cockpit and Keith looks out it to see Shiro smiling softly at him.  He looks different with long hair, dressed like he’s from the Galaxy Garrison.  “There you are.  The others ran into me almost twenty minutes ago.  We haven’t much time and we’ve been looking for you.”

Keith pauses the game and climbs out, “Shiro?  That you?  Like you, you?”

Shiro smiles, “It’s me, me.  It seems the war never happened in this universe and there’s been 10,000 years of peace, progress, and idle amusement.  It’s pretty neat.  Except that I woke up in the middle of 3D chess game with this reality’s Lotor.  And he was kind of a bitch about losing it.”  He helps Keith down and gives him a hug, “Everything is weird here but a lot better than the last few places I woke up.”

“What happened?”

Shiro frowns and looks away,” I rather not talk about it.  Come on.  Pidge said we have to hurry back to the lion hanger to get home.”  He leads Keith out of the arcade, but they pause in front of a window.  The sight of a robot strapped to a satellite launcher with fireworks leaves them stunned.  Shiro grins, “I’m officially calling this Fun World.”

Keith nods and takes a bite of cookie, he’s not sure when he acquired it but he’s not saying no to eating it.  “It sure is.”

* * *

 

All of the original Paladins together in the Blue Lion brings back memories of how they came to Arus in the first place.  They spend the remaining time reminiscing and catching up.  Pidge teaches Shiro how to detect others from their universe and Hunk and Lance regale everyone with their hour-long adventure.  Hunk shows off an amulet their funbot gave them, “We have to replicate that when we get home.  You think Lotor will let us change his guards into fun bots?”

Keith shrugs, sitting cross-legged on the floor behind Lance’s seat, “Maybe.  In this universe, he somehow saved his parents and ruled in an alliance with Altea.  Maybe we’re wrong to suspect him all the time.  Maybe this is how could it be if we all trusted each other.”

Lance snorts, “Today was a hoot, but I wouldn’t go so far as trusting that guy.”

Pidge grins, “You’re just saying that cause in this world he’s married to Allura.  That’s twice now.”

“Shut up, Pidge,” says Lance and Keith in unison.

* * *

 

“Oh man, Keith.  I am really, really sorry.”

Keith wakes up to the sight of Shiro standing over him with his metal arm stretched out.  There’s a burning in his chest and Keith looks down to he's been cut open and maybe seared together again.  He screams, “What the fuck!”

“I’m sorry!”  Shiro turns and fumbles through a surgical table, “I don’t know what happened here!  I don’t know what to do!”

Keith grinds his teeth and sits up.  It’s hard to breathe, his skin feels tight and he’s burning up.  But he’s alive and he’s sure this Shiro doesn’t want to finish whatever the other one started.  “It’s okay.  We have to find the others and get out of here.”

Shiro nods and release unties Keith’s wrists.  “I’m really just so very sorry.”

“Shut up, man.  It wasn’t you.  I wouldn’t hold something like this against you.  Help me up.”  Keith feels like he could fall apart at any moment.  He hopes this body lives through the next two hours.  “We have to hurry.   Can you pull up a computer and find out what’s going on?  Or run the Holt code and find the others?”

Shiro helps Keith to cover up with lab jacket and pulls up data on the lab’s computer.  After a few minutes of studying it he reports to Keith, “We’re on Naxella.  Haggar is in command here.  The Lions have all been captured.  Zarkon’s on his way.  And the others are in holding cells.”  He wipes Keith’s head with a cloth, “And it seems I’m being controlled by Haggar.”

“Bullshit,” says Keith.  “Maybe this Shiro is playing some kind long game.  Maybe he’s still on our side.”

“And I guess the other Keith just agreed to be tortured?  No.  Something is wrong here.  But at least I have the authority to move you out of here and get everyone to the lions.  Can you walk?”

Keith nods before thinking it through.  The second his foot hits the ground, his legs give and Shiro has to catch him and put him back on the table.  “Maybe not.  But you can get the others out, right?  And maybe even get to a lion?”

Shiro looks at his right hand for a long time before agreeing, “I’ll try.  But I don’t know if I’ll be successful.  Stay here, and I’ll seal the door with orders not to disturb you.”  He sighs and claps Keith gently on the shoulder.  “Rest.”  He gives Keith a small kiss on the forehead before leaving him alone.

Keith tries to relax, even laying back down on the table.  He tries not to think about his body’s injuries, but they start cataloging themselves with every moment.  Shattered knee.  Broken toes.  Broken ribs.  The hole in his chest.  He’s been worked over and is barely holding on through a haze of pain.  It’s worst than the Blades of Marmora gauntlet.  He closes his eyes to the bright surgical lights and tries to focus on just his breathing.

He loses time, trying not to think and someone startles him by touching his face.  Keith opens his eyes hoping for his friends.

What he finds is Lotor looking wet-eyed and terrified.  “There you are, Akira.  How long have you been under this abuser?  When Father gets here, I will plead with him for your release.  There is no sense in this, and Haggar knows it.  She’s only doing it to punish me.”  He kisses Keith on the forehead in the same place Shiro did.

Keith pulls away, “It’s not what you think.  I’m not your Akira and the man out there is not your… whatever he is.  The same for the pilots in your holding cells.  My name is Keith and we’re all from another universe but our minds are inhabiting these bodies.”  He waits a beat and Lotor looks unconvinced.  “I’m sorry.  I’m not crazy or making this up.  I need your help.”

Lotor sighs, “So this is what she was doing.”  He sneers, “That witch!  She’s brainwashed you into believing this ridiculous story!  Don’t worry, my love.  I have ways of undoing her magic.  This is going to hurt…”

“No!”  Keith throws up his hands, “I’m not lying!  Just wait until Shiro and the others get back.  Or help me find them.  We haven’t more than two hours before we slip again.  If we don’t use a Lion as a vessel, we’ll be separated and have to start all over again.  Please,” he sobs.  “Please help me.”

Lotor holds Keith by the face and looks into his eyes.  “Say that I was to believe you.  Prove to me that you’re someone else.”

Keith looks to the monitors, “There’s a code.  The Holts gave us markers to track our excursions through time and space.  Bring up the lifeform readings for the entire planet, and I’ll show you.”  Lotor complies, and it takes a while, but he finally confirms it and shows Lotor the data.  “See.  We’re not from here.  And according to this, one more of us is here.  It might be our Slav or Princess Allura.”

“Allura?”  Lotor frowns, “My concubine?  What does she have to do with anything?”

“Your what?”

“Don’t look at me like that!  She was given to me, against my will.  I rarely even use her anymore.”

Keith pushes Lotor away, “Whatever.  Just. Stand over there.  Cause I can’t help feeling a little mad at you for that.  But that Princess is probably who I’m looking for.  If we find her, we’ll be another step closer to getting home.” 

“She’s back in my rooms.”  Lotor busies himself pulling out devices and moving back over to Keith.  “This will help with the pain until I get you to a healing pod. And perhaps… getting you and your friends to the Lion will benefit me as well.  If you can get far enough away to save them, I’ll allow it.  But you’ll have to leave the Admiral behind.  He can not be trusted.”

Keith racks his brain for a way to get his friends home and ensure the safety of the people hosting them.  It clicks easily, “We’ll secure him!  He can still be with us and when the others transition back to their bodies, they can decide for themselves what to do with him.  Okay?”

Lotor looks unconvinced but he nods, “Okay.  Now again, this is going to hurt.”

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 500+ Kudos on Statecraft!! It’s the first time I’ve ever had that, thank you soooooo much *ugly crying* Here, I hope you like this, I love y’all ^_^

Lotor patches and mends Keith as much as he can with just a torturer’s tools.  When Keith feels whole enough, he gets up and limps to the door.  “Show me the way to the others.” 

Lotor smiles and follows him, “As you wish, Akira.  Or whatever your name is.  I just hope you’re right about this being a temporary situation.  It’s creepy speaking to you… you even sound different.”

Keith would argue that’s how he felt meeting all the different Lotors and Sinclines, but there’s no time.  Lotor brings up the rear while they duck and dodge sentinels.  Keith holds on to him for much of their trek but pushes Lotor away when a scary thought crosses his mind, “You said you hardly used her anymore.  Did you… did you do anything my Princess Allura?”

Lotor frowns, “I haven’t seen her all day.  She keeps her own time.  Now move.”  He tries to usher Keith along, but they hear blasting around the corner of a long hall. They hide while a familiar silhouette stretches down the hallway. 

Keith sighs happily.  “It’s Shiro.  Thank goodness. Come on,” he thinks nothing of leading Lotor to his friend.

Shiro doesn’t look as happy to see them.  He points the gun at Keith, “Get down!”

Keith raises his hands, “No it’s fine.  He’s going to let us escape!”

“I said get down,” repeats Shiro.  He fires a warning shot and Keith ducks and looks back to see that Lotor has disappeared. 

“What in the hell?!”  He turns back Shiro, “What did you do?”

“He’s a fake.  I keep running into Haggar’s shadows or whatever they are.  Come on.  Allura says Haggar must have taken over the ship and she somehow knows what we are.”

“You found her?  Our Princess?” 

“Yeah,” Shiro comes over and carries Keith bridal style when it’s clear Keith can’t move fast enough with his injuries.  “And she’s especially pissed off.  I don’t know what the Lotor in this universe did to her, but I’m pretty sure she caved his skull in back there.  That’s how I know that guy wasn’t the real one.  We have to get off this planet, pronto.”

“But the fake Lotor… he said some things.  Like we should tie you up in the lion to keep _their_ people safe.  Why would a shadow help me?  How would he know so much about the others?  Why would he help heal me?”

“I don’t know!”  Shiro gives Keith a rough shake but keeps running until he finds a side panel that’s been blown apart.  They look in to see a see that the shaft curves into the darkness.  Keith shakes his head but Shiro drops him like a load of laundry.

“FOR FUCK’S SAKE, SHIRO!”

* * *

 

Keith lands in what does appear to be laundry.  Shiro lands behind him with a graceful roll and proceeds to pick up Keith then continues running.  Keith holds on to his friend’s neck, “Is there any chance we can stop and talk about this?  You’re acting weird.  It’s not like you to be so… so…”

“Impulsive?  Reckless?  Stubbornly assured my actions are right and deaf to outside suggestion?”

“Yeah okay, it’s annoying if you put it that way, but I was going to say… ah… you seem more _resolute_ today.”

Shiro doesn’t pause but he does smirk, “I don’t have time to be patient and explain things.  All I know is I have to get you and the others to safety.  Now hold on.  This is going to hurt.”

“I’m really tired of hearing that.”

Keith is jostled from side to side while Shiro runs the halls and even barrel rolls them both at one point to avoid sentries.  It pulls some of Keith’s stitches and he starts bleeding all over Shiro.  They head for what appears to be kitchens and storage and Keith can hear familiar voices as they round the corner.  Lance sits with bandages around his eyes and his hands out, “This is even more annoying than seeing Keith’s junk!  I’m itchy and you guys are totally messing with me!”

Keith waves at everyone as Shiro walks in and secures the door behind them.  “Guys!”  He takes a good look at his friends and winces, “You look about as good as I feel.  Lance?  What’s up with the diaper on your head?”  Pidge is covered in cuts and bruises but she gets up and turns Lance, so he can argue with Keith. 

“The Psycho Shiro burnt my eyes!  Non-consensual laser adjustment should come with a warning!  Then he beat Pidge to a pulp and slashed into Hunk like a damn ham before we got here.  We all just woke up sore and bleeding in a holding cell.”  He sighs and leans on Pidge for support.  “But at least we’re together.  And you sound normal, so at least we have three healthy fighters.”

Keith is not happy to contradict him, “Actually I’m pretty sure he broke this body.”  He turns to Shiro who busies himself with his head down, “Look, I’m not saying we can’t do it, but how are we supposed to limp out of this place with Haggar throwing really convincing shadows around?”

“I don’t know,” says Shiro.  “But I know where the Black Lion is and we’re two decks just over where it’s being held.  Allura is already down there securing the hold.  You guys think you can hold out?”

“No,” groans Hunk holding his middle with red-stained hands, “I’m pretty sure I’m going to fall apart before we get that far.  Remind me to never make you mad when we get home.”

Shiro looks especially guilty and he adverts his eyes while pulling out a hovering stretcher.  “I am so sorry, you guys.  I really, really am.  I don’t even get how I could be _capable_ of hurting of _any_  of you in _any_ reality.”  He shakes his head and puts Pidge up on the cart, “But we don’t have time to figure it out.  The sooner we can get to a lion, the better.”

Lance looks ready to say something to the contrary, but Keith cuts him off, “Right!  Let’s go.  We can’t just sit around here bleeding on each other.”  He hops onto the gurney with Pidge, “We need to move.”

Shiro pushes them, “Hang on guys.”  He pats Pidge on the head and gives her a soft smile.  “After this, I think we’re another step closer to home.  Just hold on.  Please.”

Pidge gives him a silent nod and they’re all quiet while he sneaks them through the empty corridors to an elevator that has two sentinels guarding it.  One salutes and Shiro clears his throat, “Get out of the way.  I have orders to take the prisoners below.” 

The robots give in easily but then step into the elevator to assist Shiro with handling everyone.  Keith is pulled up in one’s arms while the other leads Pidge out the doors.  They only make it a few steps out of the elevator before Allura crashes down on their heads from above.  She takes out both robots with her bare hands and hardly gives the paladins a look before running for the Black Lion, “We have to hurry!  Lotor is in there doing something to it!  The Lion won’t respond to me at all!  I feel Haggar’s negative energy all around us!”

They hear cackling laughter from the cockpit of Black Lion, “Fear not, weaklings.  When I remake this world you shall all hold a place in it!  Remnants of the distant past-“

“Quick,” says Pidge, “Get in there and kick his ass while he’s monologuing!”

Keith frowns, “That’s not how it works, Pidge.  We can’t just…”

“Arrrrrrrr!”  Allura screams and runs for the cockpit while Shiro stands under it, eyes shut tight and murmuring something.  He must connect to the Lion.  Keith can suddenly hear it speaking to them all.  The cockpit opens and Allura jumps up and disappears inside of it.

Keith blinks, “Wow.  We should go in there and help her…”

“Ahhhhh!”  Lotor screams as he falls from the head of the lion, favoring his head and right arm while it dangles at a weird angle.  Keith starts to run up and help him, but Pidge grabs his arm.

“He’s not _yours_ , you idiot.  We gotta get out of here.  Too much time has passed in this messed up place.  We have to get in the Black Lion before the slip starts!”

Keith helps Lance and Hunk down and they slow-walk it over to the Lion that helpfully decides to come closer to give them a hand up.  When everyone finally settles down in the cockpit, they’re surprised to see Allura still at the helm.  Pidge throws her arms around the Princess’ neck.  “I’m so glad we found you!  This has been the worst one ever!”

Allura looks sad and tired like the rest of them.  She pats Pidge on the head, “I’ve seen terrible things at the hands of Zarkon and Lotor.  And every time I woke up I prayed to be back home with all of you.”  She wipes tears from her eyes.  “It seems I’m the Black Paladin in this world, not Shiro.  But she wouldn’t listen to me at first.”

Shiro helps Hunk down and checks on his wound, “She knows we’re not from this world.  And she was struggling to get free of Haggar’s influence through Lotor.  They weren’t just shadows… they were clones or something.  Everything about this place is seriously fucked up.”

Lance whines and hides his face in Keith’s shoulder, “I’m tired of this!  I want to go home!”

Hunk hiccups, his eyes watering, “Yeah.  This time stream stuff has officially stopped being fun.  What’s left?  We have to find the real Lotor and Slav?”

“The only one here was Allura,” says Keith.  “And that out there… that wasn’t Lotor.  I don’t know what that was.  He sits with Lance and everyone gets quiet.  Keith looks around at his battered until the sight is just too much, and closes his eyes.

He feels a heavy hand on his shoulder but doesn’t open his eyes, knowing the comforting weight of having Shiro nearby.  It’s enough for now.

 

* * *

 

Keith opens his eyes and looks down at the strange sight of himself wearing a red smock or a dress with his legs spreads open and a strange, strange weight on his chest.  He pats himself and realizes it’s actually breasts. Two well formed, bouncy, bouncy breasts.  “What the hell?”  He’s on a small cot in a dark, dark place.  It looks like a tech alcove or storage closet in some old ship, but someone’s decorated it with pillows and food and silky things draping to the floor.  Computer panel lights are hidden behind the silks and Keith can’t make heads or tails of why he’s in a woman’s body, in a tech closet, in the middle of a bed…

Then a head of white comes up from the foot of the bed.  And Keith sighs.  Of course, he thinks.  It’s some kind of sex nest.  He sits up and on his elbows.  “Whose idea was this?  Sincline or Lotor?”

“What?”

Keith rolls his eyes, “It doesn’t matter.  I don’t have time for this.  I have to find the others and get the hell out of this place.  We’re losing time and I need to know everyone’s okay after the last… um.”  He’s suddenly aware of feeling open and wet in unfamiliar places and it’s all so new and overstimulating, just shifting his place in the bed sends shocks of pleasure up his spine.  He falls over shaking, his legs snapped shut and his body tingling all over.  “Oh.  My.  God.”

Lotor or Sincline crosses his arms and leans on the bed smiling and licking his lips lewdly.  “Oh my, the _taste_.  I haven’t had that particular pleasure in a long while.  Let’s not waste the opportunity.”  He checks the time on his gauntlet before looking back up to Keith, “Well, I’ll give you half a varga, my buxom kitten.  But then I really must find my bearings.”  He grins and crawls up on to the bed, stripping out of his clothes and dropping the gauntlet to the floor.

There’s something about him, thinks Keith.  His voice, the way he holds himself.  Even the way his hair feels when falls over and tickles Keith’s shoulder, all lead to one conclusion.  “You **_asshole_**!”

“I beg your pardon?  Wait… Keith?!”

“You dick!”  Keith lashes out and kicks Lotor in the shins before he can get any closer.  “I can’t believe it!  Did you fuck the other Keith’s!?  This whole time!”

 “Only once or twice!  What else was I supposed to do!”  He backs away and rubs his legs.  Keith notices his pants are undone and the other Keith and Lotor were probably just wrapping up their foreplay.  Keith kicks out again, pissed at the thought that if _he_ weren’t there, _his_ Lotor would still be there.  With this body.  “Would you stop it!  It didn’t mean anything.  You are _you_ , whoever you are.  And this isn’t the first time I’ve found myself in your bed, or our bed, or rolling in the grass somewhere.”  He settles closer.  “It seems a common theme for us in many dimensions.  We belong together.”

“And what about Allura?”

“Ah…”

“You’ve been married to her in a bunch of my jumps.  You’ve been an evil dick.  You’ve been a puppet of Haggar.  Are you telling me you’ve been jumping around from universe to universe, actually playing along with any horrible thing you got up to?

Lotor actually pouts, “Well, what else was I supposed to do?  Shoot my way out?  I feel like this has been happening for months.  I’m always alone and surrounded by either crazy people or sycophants.  I woke up in one world still with my damn governess!  It was the most horrible one yet.  My wrist still aches from the memory.”

Keith gives him a dead-eye stare and Lotor has the decency to shrink back.  “That’s enough of that.  We have to get out of here and find the others.  The only way back home is for everyone to get together in the same lion before the next slip.”  He starts to climb out of the bed but Lotor grabs him by the ankle.  “What now?  We don’t have much time!”

Lotor licks his lips again and smiles up, “Perhaps.  But why waste the opportunity.  I could share some particularly well-honed skills that will leave you a shaking mess.”

Keith blushes and puts his knees together.  “I’m pretty sure you already did.  And that’s a no go.  I don’t like abusing the body I inhabit.  It’s… it’s happened a couple of times, but I don’t want to think of someone with my face waking up not remembering why they were fucked.  Okay?”

Lotor gives him a sad sigh, “Okay.  We’ll just go back to our own universe.  Find our comrades, set our world back to rights and fight my father.”  He nods, “That sounds noble and good.  I’m all for it.”  He then launches himself forward and pins Keith to the bed.  “In about half a varga.”

“Asshole,” says Keith with as much patience as he can muster, “If I knew for sure we could get out of here, or where we were, or where our friends were, I might let you slide.  But we don’t know anything.  There’s no way we have any time to waste on this!”

**_“Keith are you there?”_ **

They both look to the side where a curtain is covering a screen.  Lotor pulls it back, “It’s a com?”

**_“Keith?  Answer if you're there.  I can’t find his signature anywhere on the ship.  But he has to be here with us, right?  That’s the point of slipping together in the lions.”_ **

_Coran chimes in, “Princess Yorak and Prince Lotor usually disappear for a few hours every day.  Training in ancient combat styles and customs, you know.  Princess Yorak is the heir to the Tribes of Marmora.  And Prince Lotor is dedicated to making sure she’s prepared for her duties as his future queen.  They’ll be back sooner or later.”_

**_“Really,” says everyone in unison, with a single unimpressed voice._ **

_Shiro chimes in, “Keith if you can hear me, please just come back.  Don’t fuck Lotor.”_

**_“Language, dude!”  Says Hunk, “But seriously Keith.  We’re all here. And ready to get going.  You’re our missing piece.  And maybe this other blip that came up in the Holt tracker.  But it might be… ah damn.  It’s Lotor, isn’t it?”_ **

Lotor laughs and turns the comlink off altogether.  “See.  All your questions answered.  Your friends are safe and nearby.  We have plenty of time…”

Keith pushes his face away, “Don’t!  I’m telling you for the last time.  This is not happening!”  He can’t get behind hearing his voice change to something high and unfamiliar when he shouts.  “Just back off and help me get up.”

Lotor’s face twists like he’s thinking hard about his choices.  And then, of course, he gives in to his inner hedonist and kisses Keith hard.  It’s everything Keith thinks he’s been missing from the other look-a-likes.  All the passion, and familiar taste and smell and feel when they move together.  There’s nothing else like it.

The kiss leaves them both panting and tears come to Keith’s eyes, his hand in Lotor’s hair and pulling him close.  “It is you.  I missed you.  You don’t know what I’ve gone through…”

“I’m sorry.  Any pain you’ve felt is my own fault.  My own… inner weaknesses.  But understand, I’m not the same as the weak men that you’ve met in those other worlds.  I’m stronger than any violent Galra dictator.  And I love you.  And only you.”  He kisses Keith again gently lays them down on the bed.

Keith sighs when Lotor’s hands slip between his legs, his fingers caressing the folds and before finding a nub in the center.  Keith gasps, “What the fuck was that?”

“Never made love to a woman, Little Red?”

“It hasn’t exactly come up… but I get the basics.  That’s um… that um…”

“This is just the tip of your pleasure center.  And I can draw out _such_ sensation.”  He bites down on Keith’s lip while cupping his hand, rubbing harder while the tip of his finger dips into the hollow under the hood of skin and nub.  “Let me open you up.  Let me have you.  Let me…”

“Ah fuck.”  Keith swallows and wouldn’t admit to anyone the sounds he’s making.  After an embarrassingly high-pitched gasp, he says, “…Well just the once.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was sitting on the next several chapters cause I wanted to shape it by whatever happened in Season 6, and boy howdy did a lot happen!
> 
> With so much material I'd say expect an update every Sunday.  
> (But I'm unreliable. Don't quote me on that. :P )


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT'S SUNDAY!! And note that I imagine Ali Wong for Keith's voice as a female. Nobody tell her, though :P

Keith recalls hearing girls giggle when he walked by at the Garrison.  He knows he’s thought of as _cute_ , but some girls thought he was a ‘bad boy’ too.  But Keith already had difficulty getting along with anyone that… honestly anyone _not_ Shiro.  And the last thing he wanted was to address any of his secret admirers and their little stares.

Now that he thinks of it, he was so wrapped up in being isolated, and focused on work and then his brief fling with his roommate and his traitorous boyfriend, that he never examined any other possibilities.  And lately, his interactions with females is limited to sisterly affection, grueling training from the blade warriors, or menace from Lotor’s own generals. 

He hasn’t had much occasion to think of _this_.  Let alone being on this end of… _this_.

Lotor has been with many, many, many creatures.  Male, female and in-between and neither.  And he boasted of his expertise in sex with all things consenting before, but this is the first time Keith really believed any of it.  Lotor dips his head down, tongue pressing against the folds rhythmically and then suddenly kissing and sucking on the nib of that very sensitive center and makes Keith shake apart all over again.  Lotor pulls away before it gets to be too much.  And the smug bastard smiles up at Keith, “To think.  If things had been even the slightest bit different in our time…”  He flicks the nib with his tongue and dives back in, tongue pumping into the folds before sitting up and stretching Keith again with his fingers.

Keith sighs, squirming while his thighs shake.  It takes an embarrassingly long time for Lotor's words to reach his brain.  He frowns, eyes half-lidded and working his hips with every thrust of Lotor's fingers, “Shut up.  I’m not a girl.  And this ain’t gonna happen twice.  So make it count, Asshole.”

Lotor doesn’t answer but he flashes his snake-like smirk, his eyes saying ‘challenge accepted’ as he climbs back up the bed and opens the front of the plain smock Keith’s wearing.  He kisses down the body’s sternum and then bites softly at one mound, then the other.  Keith is at a lost of what to do with his hands.  They want to fly down and rub again, desperate for friction.  But Lotor distracts him momentarily, latching on to the right nipple and sucking.  And the sensation is different from Keith’s male body.  He grabs two handfuls of Lotor's hair and pulls. He feels warm and tingly and knows he’s getting wetter.  Lotor uses his big hands to cup the other breast and squeeze and knead it, and Keith moans, finding it damn satisfying to be touched and touched and _touched_.  Lotor presses his body down and the cloth of his undergarments rubbing against Keith’s bare thighs is good, but also unbearable.  Keith tires of the dry humping, needing _something_ to be filled.  Needing skin on skin contact.  He pushes Lotor back and suffers through another damn smirk while pushing his pants down.

Then they both freeze and stare at the sight between them.

Keith imagines, his counterpoint is a normal human-shaped woman.  Everything he learned in sex class is where it’s supposed to be, though he’d need a mirror to really check.  But that’s not the problem.  The problem is Lotor’s cock.  Long, reptilian, dark purple, curved like an elephant trunk with not one, but two damn antenna-like appendages extending from the base.  Keith stares wide-eyed, “What the fuck is that?”

Lotor holds his hands up as if he were afraid of it. “I… I honestly don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know!  It’s your dick!”

“I’ve never shifted into this form before!  I don’t know what species he’s copying, but I don’t feel like I’m using any Altean magic… and this is… natural somehow.  Perhaps this Lotor is not half-Altean, but something else.  I don’t know what.  I’ve never seen the like in ours or any other universe.”

Keith hazards poking the tip with a finger.  And the damn thing twitches, a bulbous head with two slits that crease its top, creeps out almost independent of Lotor moving.  Lotor seems to freak out a little, but he finally takes the cock in hand and gives it a hard squeeze.  They watch the foreskin, slip back and the dark red head of it snakes out long and thick, seeping with clear fluid.

And it’s big and strange and new.  But Keith can’t help defaulting to his own curious stance on dick aesthetic.  “It’s kinda pretty,” he says simply before bending over and taking a lick of it.  It doesn’t taste strange, just salty and a little watery like store bought lube.  The texture is different from the cocks Keith is used to, almost leathery but soft.  The little antennae sit up at an odd angle and Keith has no idea what they’re for, but he wants to suck on them too. 

But then Lotor pushes him back, “Don’t.  By the Veric gods, I won’t last at this rate.  And you only gave me one card, remember?  Lie back.  And don’t put anything else in your damn mouth.”

Keith smirks, “What like this?”  He puts the finger in his mouth and sucks, moaning dramatically and he laughs when Lotor falls on him.  Having him pressed closed, they don’t think about the cock’s strange appearance, kissing instead while Lotor rubs up against him. 

The head finds the wet folds and slips inside so easily, Keith imagines they’ve done this many, many times.   He gasps, as the ridges of the cock catch on the spongy walls of his vaginal entrance and the antennae seem to move on their own.  Curled up like they are, they reach the clit and the top of the hood and massage it with every thrust.   Lotor’s eyes roll back in his head and he shakes, struggling to control himself.

Keith taps him on the shoulder, “Come on.  It’s okay.  We’re made for each other here.  It doesn’t hurt.  It’s good.  Come on…  Show me everything.”

Lotor breaks, finally working the strange shaft in and out quickly.  He pulls Keith’s legs farther apart and bends his knees, holding him at an angle that gives him access to yet another pleasure spot.  Shallow thrusts are enough to hit it, but it feels like Lotor is going deeper and deeper.  Keith has no idea what’s going on, feeling twists and thrumming rhythms inside the channel.  If he didn't know better, he'd say a sex toy is working in tandem with the cock.  It’s too much and before long Keith freezes up, his belly taut and seizing while he comes.  He thinks he sees stars behind his eyes and feels full and stretched in a way he never thought possible.

Keith goes loose, his body drained of energy and hands falling back.  He’s content to watch and feel as Lotor chases orgasm, buried to the hilt while the cock pumps away in what feels like two directions.  The antennae leak from small slits at their tops. The fluid is warm and calms the overstimulation Keith started feeling, letting it go on and on.  Keith can’t tell Lotor is coming at first, but his body gets limp and he falls forward on Keith’s shoulder, holding him close and tight while he draws up.  The strange cock pulsing and curling inside him, then Keith feels a warm and wet mass moving inside his channel. He imagines the bulbous head getting bigger, reminding Keith of the knot from their Little Red adventure.  Lotor sighs, “There, yes!!” 

Keith feels settled and heavier when Lotor finally pulls out and rolls over with a lopsided smile.  “I _do_ know this.  Not quite like this.  But I’ve seen it before, if only halfway.”

Keith wishes he had the energy to roll his eyes at Mr. Know It All.  But he just wants to sleep, legs still spread and the damp feeling under him.  He realizes that he’s leaking, and he doesn’t know when it’ll stop.

Lotor puts a hand over his still sensitive cunt and combs his finger through the short curly hair before cupping him, a finger in the entrance.  “There is a race that regenerates with ovipositors.  I mated one.  But not to the full effect, being on birth control kept that part out.”

Keith frowns, “Are you going to pretend I understood that?”

Lotor laughs, “Yes well… I think it better you didn’t.  Not at the moment.”

* * *

 

They rest until Keith can feel his legs again.  He rolls over and looks at the weird room.  “No wonder they have so much food and water down here.  I feel like I could eat and sleep for a million years.  I don’t really want to move right now.”

“Mmhm.”  Lotor snuggles under his arm.  “Fair point.  Like I said, I’ve never had a coupling quite like that. But the Nalquod colony system was nearby.  One of the original paladins, the Blue Lion was from there.  They breed with male ovipositors.  Perhaps…”

“Dude.  Please don’t talk science to me right now.  I’m resting.”

“Alright.  I’m just saying.  This whole place seems to be set up to get Princess Yorak with child.”

Keith sits straight up and looks down at his belly then over at the smug-faced criminal beside him.  “Are you fucking kidding me?”

Lotor stretches, not worried, cause why would he?  He’s not the one who might be knocked up in a parallel universe.  “Well if I were going to unite opposing tribes, the quickest way would be with a blood bond.  It worked on Galra in the time long before Zarkon and even the unifying wars.  But it resulted in kidnappings and rapes… it was unsavory.  It seems more like they want to be together and are engineering a baby to keep it that way.”

“Right.”  Keith stretches over Lotor and ignores his muffled cry while climbing over him and turning the com back on.  “Hello?  Anyone listening?”

**_“Keith!?”  Shiro sounds surprised on the other end._ **

“Yeah, um.  I’m with Lotor.”

**_“You don’t say,” he says sounding less surprised._ **

“Yeah.  We’re ah…. Coming up in a few minutes...”

* * *

 

Keith and Lotor get dressed in plain looking gear and walk around in what they suppose is the castle of Lions, but it’s different.  Less high-tech, small and rusty looking. 

Lotor keeps an arm around Keith, “I can’t express how happy I am to have you back, my love.  Are you certain this plan of yours is going to work?”

Keith filled him in while they were getting ready and now leads him up to to the hanger where everyone should be waiting for them in front of the Red Lion.  He steals a kiss before going inside, “Just remember this in another ten years or so, okay?  It’s important.  You’re the first one I meet when the slips start.  Because of you, I try and find everyone and that gets us this far.  So you have to remember, okay.”

Lotor gives him another squeeze, before pulling away and marching ahead. “I’ll do my best, Keith.  For you, I’ll do anything.”

Once the door opens they get stared at by the other paladins and the female Coran, dressed like a nanny, but still possessing a thick mustache.  Coran marches forward and points at Lotor, “You lying Nalquod-lite!  You’ve been waxing the Princess with your slutty eggs!”

Keith sighs while everyone stares at them, “Yeah okay.  Surprise.  We fucked.  Let’s move on.”

The wait in the Lion for the slip is cramped with everyone inside and cracking jokes at Keith’s expense.  He doesn’t mind.  Even with Lotor, Allura, and Shiro glaring at each and arguing about the best way to move forward.  Pidge and Hunk talking science and math.  Lance rambling about getting home and feeding Kalternecker… The noise is perfect.

Keith sits at the helm looks down at his counterpoints belly, “I hope you get everything you wanted too.”

* * *

 

Right after Keith’s dad died, he was put into a home for ‘gifted’ orphans.  He hated every miserable second of it.  The staff ran a wild spectrum, from cooing and petting, easily impressed adults to hard stares and dismissive remarks from people who judged him as worthless.  Broken.  And then there were the kids.  So-called Brainiac’s that were too-smart for a normal home.  No, they were special.  And sometimes rich people would come shopping for a ‘gifted’ kid.  Keith would hide away while most of the others put on a song and dance routine.  This one doing long division like a calculator, that one playing Mozart.  Keith suffered from second-hand embarrassment a lot there.  And what’s worst, is they expected the same from him. 

It took Shiro, coming in for a routine recruitment to get his attention.  He didn’t even mind being called ‘gifted’ or told about all his untapped potential.  Knowing Shiro was like having a dad, a brother, a mentor, a personal cheerleader, all wrapped up in one supportive, and ridiculously attractive package.

Waking up in his arms under the stars is the least scary thing to happen in a long, long time.

Until the screaming starts. 

Lance runs over, dressed in pajamas.  Keith looks down and realizes his hands look smaller.  They _all_ look, smaller.  And younger.  “The hell are we, now?”

“Language,” yawns Shiro.  He sits up, but he’s still holding onto Keith.  “Hey!  Look at you.  You’re pocket-sized again.  How cute!”  He gives Keith a hug before Keith can say anything.

Pidge is the smallest.  And beside her sleeping are Matt and Sam.  She tiptoes over them, “I don’t know what’s going on.  But I’m pretty sure I dreamed this once.  Some kind of camping trip?”  She looks up at the stars, “On Earth?!  Look.  There’s the big dipper and everything!”

Allura and Lotor climb out of a tent and shushes the paladins.  They’re still full grown, like Shiro.  “We’re not alone,” says Allura.  “Look at all these human children.  What on Arus is going on?”

Hunk gets up and waves them over, “Let's go this way.  I think I can hear Yellow’s voice.  In this world, Matt’s her Paladin.  But she wants to help.  Come on, let’s get going!”

They trek away from the campsite, passing a signpost that marks the _Camp Galaxy 4 th Annual Star Watch_.  They circle up and sit down.  Lotor keeps his distance, looking back at the camp with a frown, “I don’t like this.  Time seems mismanaged in this place.  I mean look at you.”  He looks disgusted when everyone is staring up at him from only three feet off the ground.  “Eugh.”

Keith pulls away from Shiro and stomps forward to give his boyfriend a kick, “We don’t have time for your kid-phobias, Asshole.” 

“Keith?”

They all stop and look up as a strange Galra woman approaches them.  She sighs, “I’m so sorry President Lotor and Madam General.”  She pulls Keith by the collar and turns to all the kids, “What are you are up to?”

Everyone gets up, panicking but Pidge steps forward, “Sorry to wake you up, ma’am.  We’re just… um… asking questions.  Spontaneous lecture.  We love learning.”

Lance nods.  “Yeah, we love it.”  He doesn’t sound very enthusiastic. 

Hunk throws his little arms up, “We are the future after all, right?!  We just want to know everything.   And Allura, Lotor, and Shiro said they’d tell us some cool space stories.  We’ll go back to bed shortly.  We promise.  Right Pidge,” he pushes the smallest and cutest kid forward.

Pidge doesn’t seem comfortable but bats her eyes, “Yeah, we ah, are crazy for space knowledge!”

The woman sighs and bends down.  She surprises them all by giving Keith a little kiss on the forehead and patting his head, “This seems like something you orchestrated, Kiki.”  She looks up at Shiro, “Don’t let him fool you, commander.  He’ll just as soon steal your ride as let you all lecture them.  Keep a sharp eye on them.”

Shiro nods, “Yes ma’am.”  His face gets red, “I won’t let anything happen to him.  I promise.”

She gives Keith another kiss and walks away, not minding the gathering and whatever weirdness she expects from the kids in this universe.

Lance runs over and inspects Keith’s head, like he was given something.  “Kiki, what was that?!  Do you know that woman?  Is she a contact from the blade or something?”

Keith shrugs, ready to move on and get out the weird body that feels too small to contain everything he’s grown into since becoming a paladin.

Shiro still looks red in the face and seriously adds, “She’s an ally.  That’s all that matters for now.”  He wipes his eyes, “Let’s get moving, Paladins.”

Allura nods and picks up Hunk.  “I don’t think we were sleeping long, but we were safe and comfortable.  So, who knows.  Let's move up to the lion where we can be sure to catch the next slip… what why are you all staring at me?”

“You’re cradling Hunk.”  Says Lance.  He looks jealous and stands under her, hands raised.  “I want upsies too!”

Pidge rolls her eyes, “Seriously?  You think that’s going to work?”

In the blink of eye Pidge, Hunk, and Lance are lifted up and Allura looks determined to keep them, “Upsies indeed!  My little paladins.”  She kisses and hugs them all in turns then sets her sights on Keith with stars in her eyes.  “And look at him!  Aren’t you lonely over there?”

Pidge struggles to get down and Lance may have passed out with a nosebleed.  Hunk looks happy and comfortable, letting his chubby little legs dingle.  Keith stares at them all and puts his chin up, “I don’t wanna.”

“Awwww!"  Allura rushes over, "Even pint-sized, he’s still a little loner.”

Pidge laughs, “Emo Keith, pocket edition.”

Hunk and her chortle over the joke while Keith hides his red face.  He gravitates to Shiro naturally and hides behind one of his big legs.  “This isn’t a time to be joking.  We need to go home.”

“Yes,” whines Lotor.  “Before this sets in as a permanent change or something.”

Pidge gives him the hardest stare a four-year-old could muster, “That’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever said.”

Lotor shoots right back, “You’re stupid.”

“Quiet,” says Keith.  He puts his foot down, but it’s not much of an impact.  “Let’s just get out of here.” 

Once up in the lion, Lance and Hunk take turns jumping in out of Allura’s lap and she seems happy to have them do so.  Lotor and Pidge argue semantics and it’s the funniest looking thing Keith has seen in any universe.  Lotor refuses to bend down and Pidge pulls his hair.  If it weren’t for his first glimpse, Keith would be worried that Lotor will never get used to children.

But with all their noise in the confined space, he has the center.  Sitting curled up in Shiro’s lap at the helm.  Keith yawns and figures the little body was still tired.  He figures he and the other guys are around seven or eight years old.  And it’s way past their bed time.  Keith looks out at the screens to where the Yellow Lion is keeping watch over the campsite.  “I wonder how all this happened?  Galra leaders on earth?  Working with kids?”  He watches as the lady from before settles down with some instruments, working despite the late hour.  “I wonder who she is…”

He stretches out his thoughts and tries to connect with his lions.  He gets the impression of memories from Red Lion, which is actually nearby.  Allura is its Paladin, Lotor is the Black Paladin and Sam is the Blue.  This is a world of peace and cooperation.

Hunk comes over and shakes Shiro's knee, “Hey can I come up there and check for Slav?  If he's here and somewhere close we can get him too, right?”

“Excellent idea,” coos Allura.  Lance looks a little jealous, but she continues, “Try and connect to Yellow Lion and ask her for his whereabouts.  She should be able to find him without the Holt code.”

Hunk closes his eyes and concentrates, but frowns after a long quiet pause.  “Nothing.  I don’t think Slav is even in this galaxy in this timeline.  That or the lions just haven’t a strong enough bond to find him.”

Lance groans, “Oh come on!  He can’t be that hard to find.  Knowing him, he would be working to get himself somewhere nearby if he knows all about this right?  He probably somewhere right now counting out the wrinkles or something to make sure he ends in the right place.”

Keith looks at him surprised, “That’s actually a good thought.  I wouldn’t put it past him.  He’s a self-serving little worm at heart and being with us is usually his safest option.  He’ll turn up.”

Shiro pats him on the head, “Fine.  Until next time.”  He gives Keith a warm smile that fills him with hope for the future.  Whatever happens next, wherever they go, Keith is happy to at least know his family is back together again.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I could, I'd probably commision a super rabbit tentacle piece from Bad Dragon, just for giggles.


	17. Chapter 17

Keith sits up, his head aching and a growling sound rings in his ears but it soon fades away.  He takes stock of his condition, noting that for once he’s comfortable and not bleeding, bruised, running, screaming or being fucked.  As far as slips go, this one is decent.  They’re gathered around a park bench walled in by two beautiful fields of flowers.  There’s a pair of big pink-trunked trees with white flowers and a little gazebo nearby.  He thinks of old Central Park, as he notices the city line surrounding them.  The skyscraping towers of ivory and blue and pink look like familiar technology.  He thinks he knows where they are before anyone says anything.

“It’s my home!”  Allura gets up from the bench, she’s a wearing a long flowing pink and white dress, her hair done up in red flowers.  Keith looks down and notices he’s in formal wear too.  All the men are dressed in fancy red silk suits.  Pidge is pulling off something in between, a cute green robe with thick flower-embossed obi and wide-legged silk pants.  His friends look beautiful and Keith smiles while Allura circles the table with tears in her eyes.  “We’re really here!  Everything is just I remembered!  It’s so beautiful and clear out!”  She runs through a field of flowers while Keith and the others let her explore her home. 

The lions are nearby forming a circle just behind the gazebo structure, so everyone relaxes, knowing they can stick together for the next slip.  Shiro sighs, “I can’t fault her for wanting some time here. This is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.  Let’s pair up if we’re exploring and make sure to head back here in the next ninety minutes.  Okay?”

Hunk and Pidge nod, but they seem to be only half listening as their eyes track a pair of weird mechanical dragonflies that buzz around them snapping and flashing lights.  Hunk screams, “I hope those are cameras!  I bet they’re cameras!” They scurry off without any hesitation, chasing the robots.

Lance follows Allura through the grass, and halfway out they step on someone laying down it.  Keith grins when Athanie stands up frowning as Lance stammers out an apology.  She stops him, laughing while she wraps all four arms around him and kisses him on the cheek.  They all move on together, Athanie talking a mile minute gesturing with three of her hands while she tugs him along with one arm.

Lotor stays by Keith’s side in the park.  Keith likes how quiet it is and the air smells fragrant with the strange beautiful flowers, but not overpowering.  He’s content to sit back down and take a break from all the drama of their last few jumps.  He doesn’t think about it as he wraps an arm around Lotor’s waist and leans onto him.

A sad look falls on Shiro’s face, “Well.  I guess I can go check in with the lions and see if Slav is here.”  He rolls his eyes, “I have this bad feeling like I’m gonna find him first and have to carry him around.  Again.”  He walks off shaking his head, but Keith’s grateful.  It’s a beautiful day.  And there’s nothing that can ruin the experience.

Except for an inexplicably sad boyfriend. Keith gives him a little squeeze in warning but it doesn’t work.  He figures that with Lotor it could be anything, from some science-filled explanation about why Altean weather is disagreeing with him, to not liking the way his suit clasps are silver and not golden.   Keith tries to ignore Lotor after he sighs, again and again.  But he finally breaks, “Okay.  I’ll bite.  What’s wrong?”

Lotor sighs and stands up, and Keith imagines he had plenty of time to prepare a sad soliloquy.  “I have something to say.  I’ve always wanted to see the real Altea.  And in my travels and work... I’ve done my best to preserve what remained of Altea.  There are many amongst the Galra who boast that we are the best of the First Seed.  We are warriors first and foremost.  But I am only _half_ Galra.  And for the longest time I reached desperately for that part of me lost to the void with my mother.  But am I Altean enough?  Even now, Allura looks down on me for my mixed blood…”

“I’m gonna stop you right there.  She’s a lot of things, judging people for being Galra isn’t her best flaw, but she’s working on it.  You hurt her.  The Galra hurt her.  If she has seen realities half as bad, as I have… then… maybe there’s always going to be distrust between you two.  All you can do is prove what I believe.”  He gets up and takes Lotor by the hand and looks him in the eye, “You are not the bad guy.  You are not Sincline.  You’re _you_.  You’re _mine_ ,” he throws his arms around Lotor’s neck and whispers, “And despite everything I’ve seen, I know you’re going to stay that way.  Mine.  No matter what.”  He kisses Lotor on the neck and pulls away smiling hopefully, thinking he cheered him up.

But the Prince still looks sullen.  And he looks ready to start another guilt-ridden spiel about his worthiness.  And frankly, Keith rather find a shady corner under a pink tree and fuck.

Just as Keith is thinking of an especially lewd cure-all, Allura calls out to them.  Lance follows behind her with the one person Keith never thought he’d meet.

Lotor seems almost heartbroken, “King Alfor?  Alive.  I always wanted to know him.  I imagined he would be a far greater father than my own was... I knew of stories from other people.  I knew he didn’t know about my birth in the void… and in a way he caused it.  I used to imagine he was my real father.” They watch Allura hug King Alfor and pull Lance into a greeting.  Lotor sighs at the sight but doesn’t move towards them.

Alfor waves at them and calls out, “There he is!  My favorite son!”  His smile is soft and warm, and genuine.  Allura is laughing while Lance seems to loudly disagree.  Lotor keeps his head down and turns away.

Keith sinks, “You’re going to be in this mood for the whole slip, aren’t you?”

“It’s not a trifling concern on my part!  I would hope you’d understand!”  Lotor snatches his hands away and stomps in the other direction. “Let’s go back up to the Lion.  I can’t meet him now.  Not as I am.  I’m not worthy.”

“How could you say that?”  Keith takes his hand and circles around to block him, “You’ve done everything you can to work with us to stop Zarkon.”

“Yes.  Now.  But I have done things… and there’s no way someone like him, like either of them, pure Altean life-givers the real First Seed, could ever forgive the destruction I’ve caused.  The worlds, the people harmed.”

Keith assumes he’s thinking of Princess Eiuri and the fallout from their battle with his ex-fiancé and Haggar.  Or perhaps building the device that got them stranded in time and space.  “Hey.  That wasn’t your fault.  The witch played all of us.  Sincline got the drop on us.  You can’t blame yourself for things out of your control.”

Lotor still looks guilt-ridden, head hanging and turning away, “I just can’t.  Now I know you wouldn’t understand.  You’re more like them than anything Galra.  The real gift of the Mae Drule is you’re so unlike the rest of Galra kind.”  He runs off in the direction of Black lion and Keith hears a voice, telling him not to follow.

**_“Leave him be.  We have some questions for this one and his intentions in your universe.”_ **

Keith freezes, _“Red?  You mean because he’s Zarkon’s son?  You can’t judge him for that!  It's not his fault!”_

**_“The Lotor of this world is a kind man, rescued early in life by King Alfor and Princess Allura.  He grew up with Altean alchemy guiding him.  But the one you bought with you, his soul is blackened by misdeeds and cruel intentions.  He is right to think of himself as unworthy.”_ **

_“How could you say that!_ ”  Keith runs up to the Lion and pleads with it, _“Don’t tell him something like that!  You’ll send him off the deep end.  Just… please.  Understand.  He’s not the same person.  He’s changing.  He’s getting better all the time.  And he’s mine.  I love him.”_

**_“How can we judge your words, Galra?  You’re are just tainted as he is.”_ **

The words hit Keith like a brick and he stops short of climbing into the cockpit and trying to fight the Lion with his bare hands. He falls to his knees.  All around him is laughter and happiness.  The temporary kind.  All flowers and nostalgia for something they never had.  Keith gets up and walks slowly to where Red and the other Lions form a circle.  Lotor leans against Black Lion’s leg while Shiro paces with a small scanner in hand, oblivious their internal struggles.

Shiro smiles, “Hey there you are.”  He looks back where Lotor is sulking, “I knew you couldn’t be far behind.”  He gives Keith a sad lopsided grin, “So.  Guess what I learned from the Lions.  Today is Allura and Lotor’s wedding anniversary.  They’re celebrating with close friends.”  He stretches out his left arm, his sleeve rolled up, “I didn’t even notice until a moment ago.”  It’s completely human.  No scars on his face.  No scars on his arm.  “But in this world, there’s nothing wrong with me.  Cool, huh.”

Keith can’t take having the people he loves judging themselves and he snaps, “There’s nothing wrong with you!”  He runs over and hugs Shiro, hoping the force of it can make him believe.  “You’re fine.  We’re all just fine as we are.  There’s nothing… they’ve no right to judge us for not living this kind of life.  We weren’t handed peace, we were given war…”  He finds himself crying hard enough to get Lotor’s attention.  Lotor and Shiro help him down to his knees, patting his back while he sobs.  “It’s not fair!  It’s not fair!  Things could have been so good!  But we’re trying damn it, and that should count for something!"  He hides his face in Lotor’s shirt, the familiar weight of Shiro’s hand still on his shoulder.  Keith cries and cries, like a dam from all the slips has finally broken.

Damn this place, he just wants to go, he thinks.  He just wants to take his family back home.

 

* * *

The next slip is full of movement. 

They wake up doing battle with each other in Voltron.  Keith panics, “Where’s Lotor?  Is he on a ship somewhere?  Where are we?”  He’s in the Red lion, data on the others say Allura’s on the castle nearby, Lance is in blue, and Shiro is back in Black.

“Look,” says Pidge.  “Is that the Sincline ships we were working on?  How on earth did he do that?”  A giant reptilian mecha faces off with them but goes still soon after they all wake up. 

Allura yells, “Lotor answer truthfully.  Is this your intention in our reality?  Are you going to build that, _that_ thing?”

Lotor doesn’t respond quickly but Keith fills in, “Maybe he is.  Maybe he’s planning to use it to defeat Zarkon.  Right, babe?  You’re working with us, even here.”

Lotor is quiet over the com, and the strange mecha is still unmoving. 

Shiro orders everyone to disband so they can get their bearings and scout the area.  “And Lotor?  I need confirmation that it’s you over there and not another Sincline or Haggar shadow puppet.  Can you at least answer us?”

After a long pause, he whispers, “I’m here.  I’m right here.  Where I belong.”

“No,” pleads Keith.  "Now is not the time to get all morbid!  You belong with us.  I’m coming to get you.  We’re going to find someplace safe to land and we’re going to sort this all out.”

“And what about the others?  The people’s whose lives we snatched?  You want them to wake with their enemy?”

Keith starts to correct him, but Lance jumps in.  “Don’t worry about it.  We’ll tie you up nice and tight and we’ll wait this thing out in old Blue.  I’ll let her eat you if the Other You tries and pull anything.”

“Lance, that’s not necessary,” starts Keith.

“No, he’s right.”  Says Hunk.  “It makes sense to take precautions.  We were all fighting a tick ago.  And I’m sure the Other Us are not going to want to wake up to a face full of Lizard Prince.  No offense, Lotor.”

Lance snickers, “Lizard Prince.  Good one, Hunk.”

“No, bad one Hunk!  Stop being cute!  And Lance, shut up!”

“Hey- who died and made you-“

“I said shut up!”  snaps Keith.   He slams his controls forward, heading for Lotor, but comes up short when the mecha finally moves, it’s tail swishing to keep him back.

“Calm down, all of you,” says Lotor.  He sounds resigned, “I’ll go along quietly, of course.  If my sensors are correct, Haggar’s command ship isn’t far from this location.  And my generals are nearby floating in their suits.  They must have been ejected.  If you want to preserve your other selves before they return, we should get somewhere safe.  Teleport far away from this damned machine with this body well secured.”

“I agree,” says Allura. “Coran, do you hear me?”

“Princess?  Are you okay?  Why’d you stop blasting him, you had him just where you wanted him, like an Earbor eel in a slicked-up barrel of Gungun juice!”

Lance tuts, “Now he’s just making stuff up, I know it.”

Allura continues, “They’re bringing Prince Lotor onboard and putting him in stasis, we're getting out of this system, then I and all the paladins are going to take him to the Black Lion.”

Coran screams loud and long, and Keith has to cover his ears for a tick until the man calms down.  “WHY WOULD YOU DO SUCH A THING!  ARE YOU OKAY PRINCESS?  DID THE NEGATIVE ENERGY BLAST DAMAGE YOUR CEREBRAL NETWORK!!??”

Allura sighs, “I’m fine.  Just trust me and do as I said.  Paladins and Lotor, you have permission to come aboard.”

They all dock in the Castle and walk together to the stasis pod chamber.  Lotor complies with a dull look on his normally smirking face.  Keith finds the whole thing deeply unsettling and takes Lotor aside, “Are you alright?”

Lotor shakes his head, “It’s nothing.  It’s like the old saying, the weight of one’s faults can only be carried by one, on a pillar of calcified guilt harnessed by their incompetence.”

Keith frowns, “That’s a long-ass saying.  Are you still beating yourself up about the last slip?  King Alfor said…”

“He didn’t speak to me.  He spoke to his son-in-law.  He didn’t know me.  And the Lions had already looked well into my soul.  Even if I found everything I was looking for,” he sighs, and his eyes linger on Allura.  “I would not be worthy of it.”

Keith shoves Lotor into the stasis pod, “I swear if I hear the word ‘worthy’ one more time, I’m setting something on fire.”

Lotor laughs, standing back.  “I do love you, you know.  I need you to remember that, no matter what you see or hear.”

Keith steps up, remembering their first time together in the health pod.  He smiles and looks up into Lotor’s eyes, “I can see my house from here.”  Lotor makes a confused face that sticks with him when Keith quickly freezes him.

He backs up, hovering the pod to the lion.

Pidge looks down and laughs, “He looks like such a big goober.  Maybe our other selves can blackmail him with a few pictures.”  The gang laughs and Keith joins everyone in the Lion, staying by Lotor’s side.

 

* * *

 

 

“Keith.  Are you awake?”

Keith wakes up in Shiro’s arms.  They’re both half-naked in what looks like Shiro’s personal quarters back in the Garrison.  Keith starts to panic but Shiro rests a hand over his heart, “Don’t worry.  I don’t think anything happened.  Maybe you just spent the night.  Like when you were a kid and had those nightmares about the fire.  Remember?”

Keith nods.  “Yeah, I guess.  But um…”

“What?”

Keith’s mouth feels stretched and sore, in a way he knows too well.  “Sure.  That sounds about right.  Nothing happened,” he lies. Though it couldn’t have been a bad night for his counterpart.  Keith notices Shiro still has a human arm, and no scar on his face, no white hair.  He was never abducted in this timeline.  Shiro looks good, strong and big, every bit the handsome soldier Keith grew up knowing. He tries to get up without looking too tender.  Whatever didn’t happen, sure was rough.  He groans a little while bending down to find a shirt. 

“Oh,” says Shiro behind.  He gets up and helps Keith up.  “There’s um… some marks on your back.  I’m sorry.”

“It wasn’t you. It wasn’t us.  We wouldn’t…”

“Yeah of course not.  Why would we,” nods Shiro.  His face is red as he turns away.   “Why would you want someone like me when you have Lotor.  An actual prince?  Someone whose powerful and beautiful… and whole.  At least in our reality.”

“Hey,” Keith says, “Don’t do that.  You know I didn’t mean it like that.  You’re like a brother to me, Shiro.  I love you.”

Shiro hangs his head, eyes on the floor.  “Yeah?  And I love you.”

Keith's face freezes, as he realizes something he thinks he’s buried before.  “Oh.”

“It’s nothing,” says Shiro quickly.  “I’m here for you.  No matter what.  And I’m sorry you’re stuck feeling whatever happened here.  I’m really sorry.  Let’s go out and find the others.  They have to be nearby,”

“Right,” says Keith, numb to everything while the words sink into him.  “Right.”  He notices there’s a lot of clothes he would have worn on earth put away neatly.  Their counterparts have been cohabiting for a long time.  Keith feels like he can smell Shiro on his skin, and that’s… not wrong. But it’s not what’s he _expected_.  He moves to the bathroom first, “I’m just gonna…”

“Yeah of course.  Take your time.  We’re safe, right.”

“Right,” says Keith blushing.  He takes a long time in the shower, spending most of it with his head under the water trying to drum out the weird static in his head.  It’s the growling he heard before.  Like Red and Black are trying to tell him something but at the same time.  They’re talking over each other and Keith can’t make sense of it from so far away.

He comes out and finds Shiro going through the clothes, laying out two uniforms and getting dressed.

They get dressed quickly, backs turned to each other.  While Keith is strapping up his boots, Iverson comes on over the intercom, “Shirogane and Kogane report to my office, ASAP!”

Shiro frowns finally looking Keith in the eye, “You look different here.  Older, and taller, but it would still be against regulations.  Even if you’re not a cadet.”

Keith blushes thinking of the stupid rumors that had spread of him back in their reality, “We didn’t do anything.  And we don’t need to bring it up at all.  Let’s just find the others.”  He shoulders past Shiro in the direction of an office he used to spend a lot of time in.

They find Pidge, Hunk, and Lance already inside and arguing with Iverson.  It doesn’t look right, and Keith can’t feel the Lions anywhere.  He turns to Shiro before going in, “You think we’re all in trouble here?  Where’s Allura and Lotor?”  Keith starts to panic but the strange Galra woman from the camping slip comes down the hall, dressed in a garrison uniform.

She salutes Shiro and nods to Keith, “I don’t much care for this plan.  If what the Princess says is true, neither of you are the men I know, right?”

Shiro nods, “No, I’m sorry.  But it should be over in a couple of hours.  If we weren’t’ sleeping long.  Where is the Princess?  Is Lotor here?”

She makes a twisted face like a bad taste is in her mouth.  “That monster is where he belongs.  But,” she looks through the glass, “Your people ensure Iverson that he can be kept secured while we wait for your consciousness to transfer out of this reality.”

Keith lashes out, “He’s not what you think he is!  In our reality, Lotor is different!  Please just,” he calms down after Shiro puts a hand on his shoulder.  “Please ma’am, just let me see him.”

The woman looks between them both, confusion on her face.  “Are you?  Not with…”  She looks to Shiro for an answer, not Keith. And that just pisses him off.  When Shiro shakes his head, she huffs and turns back to Keith.  “Fine!”  She pouts and crosses her arms before exploding and pointing a finger in Keith’s chest, “No it’s not fine!  I’m _so_ disappointed right now!  Is this my fault?  It’s Kolivan isn’t it?  He’s always been such a bad influence!  I’m going rip his mangy ears right off his blockhead.  What the hell were you thinking?”

Keith pushes the finger away, “I’m not interested in being lectured by a strange woman!”

The woman cracks and backs away while Shiro steps between them, “Not that you’re strange!  He just… he doesn’t know you.”  He adds softly, “Not yet.  Please.  Just show us to Lotor.  He really is different in our time and Keith… Keith really cares about him.”

The woman seems unconvinced and glares at Keith over Shiro’s shoulder.  “Fine.  Follow me.”  The look she gives Keith goes right up his spine like he’s staring at death itself.

When she walks ahead, Shiro turns and smiles at him, “I don’t envy the lecture your Other You is going get.  Poor guy.”  He turns to the office and knocks on the glass to get everyone’s attention. 

They all rush out and Pidge notices the mood, “Oh boy, who activated Keith’s Emo mode?”

“It’s nothing!”  Keith marches ahead, “Let's just get the hell out of this place!  I’m ready to go home.  This place stinks like Iverson’s breath.”

“I heard that you smart-ass little-  Krolia!  I’m going to kill him before you do!"

* * *

 

 

They follow the woman to just outside where the Castle of Lions is parked.  It looks like it’s been on the Earth for a long, long time.  And just outside it, the Lions are at the front gates.  Allura already there with garrison soldiers and a regiment of Altean guards.  Keith pauses, “Wow.”

Allura nods, “It seems in this world, Father sent us all to Earth with the Lions.  Earth’s defenses sprang up around it.” 

The woman pulls out a strange device that she hands over to one of the techs and a little bag she clutches to her chest, “They want Lotor.  And I’ll agree to it if he’s kept in stasis.”

Allura shakes her head, “You don’t understand.  We must be sure he’s the right one.  Pidge and Hunk will do the analysis.  We can take it from here.”

The woman looks like she wants to argue some more but Coran steps forward, “Don’t worry, Krolia.  If anything happens, I’ll be right there ready with one of these,” he holds up a fist, “Powered by the best reflexes in all the galaxies!  Pew, pew!”

Keith watches the woman shake her head.  She turns to Keith and hands him the little bag before stomping back off to the Garrison.  He's just wondering what her deal is when Shiro pushes him forward, “Don’t bother.  We have other things to take care of first.  But if I were you, I’d look her up in our reality.”

Keith nods and makes note of her appearance.  Despite the attitude, she looks strong and has nice eyes, he thinks.  “Krolia.  Yeah.  I’ll remember that.”

Inside the castle, the Altean guards hover around them the whole time, scanning and rescanning their vitals before allowing Pidge and Hunk to check Lotor.  They’re all taken to a brig like the one they held Lotor in their reality.  But here, Lotor is asleep, like a fairytale prince in the center of it.  They only let Pidge in Hunk inside and everyone waits for them to wake up Lotor.  When they do, they exchange a few words before putting him right back to sleep and giving the guards the okay to move the pod to the Black Lion hangar.

Coran tuts, “I don’t like this.  I don’t like this one bit.  That’s the most dangerous man in the universe.  He killed his own parents.  He hunted down our people.  He attacked the Earth.  He’s destroyed countless worlds and whole races of people.  He’s the most monstrous Galra to ever live and…”

“That’s enough,” says Shiro.  He looks at Keith carefully and ushers them all to the Lion.  “What you do with him later is your business.  We won’t interfere, but we can’t go home without him.  He’s important to us.”

“Speak for yourself,” says Lance.  But then he gives Keith a little punch in the shoulder, “Hey, man.  Don’t look so down.  It’s not the first time we heard he was crazy.  Think of it as a compliment.  Without your good loving, there’s nothing to keep him straight.”

Keith gives him a tight smile and takes a seat next to Lotor in the back.  “There’s nothing straight about our loving, Lance.”

“Don’t, man.  Don’t go there…”

“And by that, I mean, anal.  Lots and lots of anal.”

“No man, don’t.”

“He likes it up the ass, Lance.”

Everyone groans.  Hunk shouts and covers Pidge’s ears while Allura hides a snicker.  Keith tries to hide behind a fake smile, but he’s been shaken by the last few slips.  And Shiro’s admission.  The man he thinks of as his best friend in any reality sits with his back to Keith.  Keith turns to the frozen face of Lotor, thinking, there’s nothing to smile about now.  He opens the little bag Krolia gave him and frowns.

“Teeth?  Who the _hell_ gives people…  Why are they so little?”  He dry heaves and Lance pats him on the back.

“Don’t worry, man.  I’m sure it’ll be okay soon.”

“I touched them!”

 

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't freak out anyone, Keitor is the endgame of this fic, but I believe with my whole heart that all those parallels in the last season point to the slowest slow-burn-fic-finish for Sheith and I'm sure the creators are going to keep dragging it out a few more years, but it's where they're going. 'brother and all'. 
> 
> *waves my Keith/Everyone flag* I'm happy.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think this is the only time a thing starts without Keith’s pov or witness. But I love these lazy boys. *pinches*  
> 

"Hey, Corick?"

"Yeah, Maik?"

"I keep getting weird little bleeps.  Do you think we should alert the guards or something?”

"I don't know, Maik.  Do I look like technical support?"

“Yeah, mate.  Remember they gave you a little plaque and everything.  We even threw you a party.  You’re listed in the personnel database as my superior, the Head of Technical Support.  Shouldn’t you support the fleet guard and alert them to the irregularities.”

Corick turns to the computer, “That signature says our esteemed ruler is turning things off, left and right.  I’ve got nothing to do with our esteemed ruler’s irregularities, mate.  Do you?”

“No but…”

“No buts!”  Corick sits back and puts his feet up, “No matter how this plays out, I’m not getting called in for second-guessing my superiors.  Are you, Maik?”

Maik sighs and hangs his head, “No.  I guess not.”

* * *

 

Keith wakes up feeling better.  Like _really_ good dick better.  Like someone doubled downed on the effort to wear him out properly and… **_yee-fuckin-haw_** _._   He stretches with a crooked smile on his face but then his eyes snap open.  “Wait.  Where am I and who did I fuck this time?”

Lotor sits up on his elbow to the right of him and smiles down at Keith, “Well hello there, Little Red.  My, aren’t you a novel treat?  You are growing your hair out like this when we get home.  And look at that color on you!  On our wedding day, Athanie is going to have to outdo this!  Red eyeshadow, red lips….”  He rambles on about Keith's appearance, seemingly cured of his melancholy and guilt of the last slips.  Keith pushes the too-long hair out of his eyes feeling mixed about being in a strange place, but happy to be with his Lotor again.  The Prince keeps talking while pinching Keith’s shoulder and stroking his hair.   “And you look soft like you’ve never had to work a day in your life... a little weight on those bones suits you.”

“Soft?” Keith frantically slaps his chest and then sits up to give himself a pat down, “Oh god.  I thought I was a woman again- ah!”  He pulls the sheets up to his neck and looks around the room.  He’s not alone with Lotor.  There are platforms and beds everywhere.  The room looks like the morning after one hell of a party.  And apparently, Shiro was invited.  He looks different in this world, sporting long wavy blond hair and a thin mustache.  He stretches and yawns like it’s no big deal before his mind catches up and he sits up, blushing beet red.  And if that wasn’t traumatic enough, at the foot of the bed is something… Keith never thought he’d go to bed with, “Slav!”

“Pipe down, you’ll break the delicate time-wave sound cache necessary for us to go unheard for the next eleven point… oh never mind.   Lance has the Green sheets, so there's a one hundred and seven percent chance the guards aren’t going to be reliably alerted by technical support.  We’re good.”

Keith pulls his hair, “What are you even… no, that’s doesn’t matter.”  He ignores his own state of nakedness and crawls down the bed, “Are you real?  Are you our Slav or just _a_ Slav?”

“Funny how that works and doesn’t work, wouldn’t you say?”

Keith is about to snap and break the little alien’s neck when he hears a scream from up high.  Lance comes rolling down from one of the platform beds, entangled in green sheets.  He looks at them all then screams again and covers his eyes.  “Mullet-head!  This is even worst that time you tried to suck me off!”

Keith sits back on his heels and crosses his arm over his chest, “I did not try to suck you off, and if I did, you wouldn’t have a problem with it.” 

Lance blinks twice, “Yeah, you’re right.”  He sighs as he picks himself up, “But it’s still up there in the Worst Things category.  Look.”  He points up to the bed he fell from and a weird tentacle creature shrugs before turning around and going back to sleep.  Keith wishes he had a trans-dimensional camera to take a picture of the sucker bruises on Lance’s chest and arms.

Keith would be happy to bask in Lance’s embarrassment but Shiro gets up and ruins the mood.  It’s hard not to stare at his body.  Here he has a prosthetic leg and the long hair is doing its best to fall artfully over his manly shoulders.  He’s all hard planes and muscles like a fairytale knight.  Chiseled chin and all.  It’s distracting, and Keith tries to subtly pull a pillow up to his lap.  Lotor laughs beside him, “Well, well, well.  What do you think darling?  Should we invite all your friends back to Eche?  We could have a very good time once we deal with my father in our reality.  Perhaps for our proper wedding night… Oh!  A celebration orgy!”

Keith shoves him off, “Don’t!  You’ll just give Slav ideas!”

Slav gapes, “I’m not invited to the orgy?  That’s not fair!  In almost every universe you say the same thing.  Figures this is the one you’d be prudish.  I hope you lose the attitude when we get home.”

Keith has half a mind to argue, but there’s familiar moaning sound from the middle of the room.  They all stare, perhaps expecting another tentacle creature.  Lance braves getting up to investigate the center platform and pulls a big drawstring, only to unveil Hunk.  Snoring away in the center of a round bed, glorious and naked but for elaborate tattoos highlighting his muscles and broad shoulders.  And the flower petals everywhere.  Lance looks around the room and throws up his hands, “Well.  That’s all of us men.  Where’s Allura?  Where’s Pidge?”

Shiro is being proactive in looking for some clothes to wear.  He finds nothing and settles for wrapping a short sheet around his waist, “Well that’s a good thing.  I hate to think of them like this, but we know they are nearby.  Maybe whoever’s in charge here has two, ah… sleepover rooms?”   He looks to Slav.  “Any chance you know what’s going on here?”

“Funny you should say that.”

Keith sighs, “Why?  Why did you get him started?”

“Don’t interrupt, hussy!  I told you.  Sex slave.  It’s possible that this is the universe where we are all free-loving comrades on a weekend sex spree.  It’s far more likely that we are all the former property of Sendak, but recently acquired by the new ruler, an evil despot hellbent on ruling all of the known universe…”

“Allura!”  Lance tries to run for cover as Allura and Pidge run into the room.  They look normal.  Almost _too_ normal.  Pidge is dressed like an old Earth newspaper boy, with short hair and thick glasses.  Allura looks like she was about to go horse riding or something.  Lance doesn’t seem to notice that they’re not in need of rescue.  “You guys!  We have to be careful,” he wraps up in his green sheet and waddles over to them. “There’s some crazy warlord keeping us as sex slaves!”

“That would be me,” says Allura.

Lance’s jaw drops to the floor and Hunk humbly covers himself with a pillow and gives them a shy wave.  Shiro, already prepared in his sheets walks over.  Keith copies him and makes a sarong while Lotor, being a proud asshole, doesn’t cover up anything in front of the girls.  Lance tries to cover Pidge’s eyes, but she slaps it away, “Cut it out!  I’ve seen my mom’s harem!  Right, mom!”  She beams up at Allura.

Allura sighs, “It seems I’ve adopted the most clever earthling when it was conquered by my fleet.   But we haven’t time to delve into their backstory.  Pidge and I have been up for a long time, it’s almost time to slip.  And we finally have the right Slav!”

Hunk gets up, grabbing another pillow to hold behind his ass, “Great!  Give us a second to find some clothes, would you?  I’m feeling a little exposed here.” 

Lotor blows him a kiss, and Keith’s not inclined to disagree.  The Despot Allura had the right idea about draping Hunk in gold, but he shakes his head, “Not now, Asshole!  Celebration orgy after we get home!”

Pidge lights up, “Celebration what!”

“You’re not invited!”

She makes a face and pulls her eyelid, “I wouldn’t come if you paid me!”

“Poor girl,” says Slav, “I wasn’t invited either.”

Allura grabs Pidge before she can anything say else to make them uncomfortable, “Enough of that!  Let’s move!  We haven’t time for your modesty!  Follow me!”  She leads them out through a long hall, “In this world, the only person Lord Allura listens to is her wife.  We narrowly escaped her when we woke.  But we have to get out now.  Here, I had orders for Green Lion to be put in this bay.”  She leads them through the door and looks around, “The close is clear.”

Lance frowns, “Wait a tick, did you say wife?  What wife?  Do I know this wife?”

“Lance, settle down,” says Shiro, “Priorities.”

Lance freaks out, “First Lotor and now a wife!  Why am I never the one with Allura?”

Allura must think he’s joking, and when passing him and slaps his ass.  “Lance.  You’ve been my consort in three of my slips.  You’re with me plenty.”

Pidge snickers past them both, “In an alternate reality.”

Keith pats Lance on the shoulder, knowing his feelings are deeper than they take for granted, “It’s fine.  Let’s all go home and maybe you can ask her out seriously.”  Lance nods sadly and follows them out, leaning on Keith for support.

Once settled in the head of Green Lion, the paladins are quiet.  Keith, Lance, Hunk, all stand in the back, hands up front and uncomfortably nude under their sheets and pillows.  Slav keeps buzzing around, and Keith realizes, the furry little caterpillar man is also nude just in time to stop him from climbing up his shoulder.  “Not today, man!”

Lotor seems relaxed and unbothered, posing like a Greek statue in the corner.  Allura snaps at him, “You could try a little modesty, for goodness sake!  Put your hair down or something.”

“No,” says Lotor doing a hair flip.  “Don’t pretend you don’t like it.  I’m yours, here, remember?”

“An acquired plaything,” bites Allura.  “From Sendak no less.  Reported as used.  Heavily.  Hardly the prize the virgin earth boys were.” 

“Why thank you, Allura,” smiles Lance.  “See at least my beauty is appreciated in this universe.  Wait, what?”

Pidge interrupts, hanging over the arm of the chair and staring at them over her glasses, “So guys.  I was wondering… which one of you is the biggest?”

They all stammer but Slav quickly points in every direction, several arms moving at once, “One, two, three, four, five! biggest to smallest, girth and lengthwise.  Mind you that one is going to be two in about five years.  He’s still a growing boy and will get much, much bigger in no time.”

It’s too fast for Keith to catch but Lotor is smirking and Pidge nods, “Noted.  Good to know.”  She fist bumps Allura and they turn around.  The girl’s scorecard is checked off again, and they win another round of the Dignity Game for yet another slip.

Hunk runs over, “Delete that knowledge!  Delete that knowledge, right now young lady!”

Pidge hangs over the seat, grinning evilly, “Knowledge saved!”

“Noooooo!”

 

* * *

 

Keith opens his eyes in a strange place that just feels like static.  He can’t feel his arms or legs.  He tries to speak and can’t hear himself.  He can’t see anything beyond the white and red and black cloud of darkness and there’s a sense of warbling space that disorients him.  He feels like he’s lost at sea, floating on the waves of nothingness.

“Keith!”

Keith struggles to right himself.  Whatever’s going on, he has to get a grip.  He tries to focus on what’s important.  Being with the others again.  Finding Lotor.  Going home. 

“Keith!”

“I see him!  But it’s like there’s something else… something dragging him down!  Hold on to me, I’m going to pull him out!”

Keith wishes he could reach out…

“Three, Two, One!”

Keith feels like a baby whale breaching the surface and breathing air for the first time.  He ends up in Hunk’s arms and smiling up, “Big guy.  You’re a sight for sore eyes.”

Hunk squeezes his middle, “That was scary close!  The damn field started to collapse around you!  You idiot!  Why’d you turn back?!”

“Turn back?”  Keith doesn’t remember that.  He can’t remember much of anything from before.  It’s all like a bunch of dreams blurred together.  His head hurts, and his heart feels heavy.  Like he’s keeping secrets from himself.  “I don’t know.  We are _us_ , right?  This is home?”

Shiro bends down and gives him a tight hug.  He pulls away and pats Keith on the head, “We’re home.  Look around.”  He points to where Lotor and Slav are breaking down the device, “We did it. We should all get some rest and report on this in the morning.  That was a lot of information, so many realities, and possibilities and different outcomes.”   He stares hard at Lotor, “And we may have what we need to keep things from turning disastrous.  We've got a lot to discuss.”

Hunk helps Keith up to his feet and gives him an even tighter hug, “Yeah, yeah, later though.  The field destabilized as soon all our signatures were collected and our physical forms started to recombine.  That was an intense subatomic ride!   Right now, we need food and showers and long naps.  And hugs.  I’m sorry, by the way.  But I can’t really help it.”

Keith squeezes him back, “I missed you too big guy.”

“Aww, guys!”  Lance comes up from behind them and throws his arms around their necks, “That was weird!  And I can’t remember everything, but I know enough to know I never want to see either of you naked again!”

Pidge hugs Keith around his waist, “I know enough to know for knowing sake!”

“What!?  What does that mean!”  Hunk flips out and everyone laughs awkwardly, their voices strained with an undercurrent of fear while Pidge walks off innocently into Matt’s arms.

Matt sighs, “I was ready to jump in there after you guys!  It’s been almost eighteen hours!  You have to tell me everything.”  He leads her out the door while she starts to tell him why she’ll never wear high heels again.

Allura yawns through her orders to some Olkari techs, “I’d like to stay and supervise clean up, but I just want to lie down and sleep for a hundred years.  I’ll call for Kolivan in the morning. The satellite station has to be rebuilt.  Analysis of the data must be done.  We need extensive medical screening… but Shiro was right about the intel.  That comes first.”  She waves at them all before exiting. 

Coran bursts into the room, “YOU YOUNG BORURLS YOU!”  He looks like he’s been crying for hours, “I can’t take any more of this insanity!  I have half a mind to take a vacation to somewhere sunny and not invite anyone along.  Except maybe Lance, as he’s the best swimmer.  And maybe Hunk.  And Shiro.  And… quiznak!  I can’t even relax without you, _without_ you!”  He throws up his hands and storms out in the direction Allura went.

Shiro frowns, “There are still some security anomalies to track.  I’m going to see it personally.  But you guys make sure you get some rest.”  He gives them a strained smile before walking away.

Lance sighs, “If I ever hear the word Sincline again I’m going to lose it.”

An Olkari tech announces on the intercom, “Please clear the room, while we sterilize the fields around the Sincline ship and comet.  Thank you.”

Hunk pats him on back while he sobs and they take the cue to retire to their rooms.

Slav and Lotor finish taking their device apart and Lotor pulls out the comet material he used to power it, “This is going back where it came from.  He looks up at his Sincline ship sadly, “I’ll have to rethink some things.”

“Yes quite a few,” says Slav knowingly, “But at least you’ll be aptly rewarded for half-hearted apologies and mild tolerance.  I’m not even invited to the orgy.”

Keith frowns, “There’s no orgy, Slav!”

Slav throws four of his hands, “See?!  Now it’s canceled.”

Keith rolls his eyes, and despite feeling tired, there’s a weight off his chest.  He feels the hum of knowing Red and Black lion are nearby.  He knows his family and friends are safe.  The Marmora agents and Olkari tech are busy working around them.  And everything looks back to normal.  Keith sighs and collapses heavily on Lotor’s side, “I feel washed out.  Any chance you can carry me back to my bed?”  He breathes in deep and his heart almost skips a beat, feeling like he’s in the right place, like someone turned the lights on after he was lost in the dark for an age. This is the right scent, the right arms, _his_ bondmate in _his_ crazy universe where he still half-galra and (admittedly) a size queen.  So, there’s that.  But at least it’s his reality.

Lotor quietly scoops Keith up into a bridal carry, “I trust you’re only interested in sleeping then?”

“For the moment.”

Lotor gives him a sweet little kiss to the corner of his mouth.  “That’s fine.”

 

* * *

 

Keith skips returning to Lotor’s room and bums a ride to his own.  He thinks everyone did.  After what they went through, it’s good to be surrounded by familiar stuff that really belongs to him and him alone. 

After a short nap, he rolls out of bed and hangs up his flight suit and takes a quick shower.  He feels sore like his whole body was wrung out and he can imagine the Science that Pidge and Hunk will try to explain later.  His stomach rumbles and Keith realizes Hunk was dead-on about everything.  He could eat an entire vat of food goo on his own.

When he steps back into his room and is surprised to find Lotor sitting on his bed, wrapped up in a simple Altean bathrobe.  Keith smiles and leans in the doorway, “What are you doing in my closet?”

Lotor sighs, “Honestly, I don’t know why you insist on keeping this tiny, tiny space.  It’s _so_ small.”  He shakes out a cringe before falling back dramatically.

Keith laughs, “Hey asshole, don’t get my sheets wet with that mop of hair.”  He walks over and straddles Lotor's legs.  He doesn’t have the energy to do much more than lay his head down over Lotor’s heart and listen.  Everything is back where it’s supposed to be.  He inhales deeply, “Is it weird you never really smelled right anywhere else?  I don’t know why I’m so hung up on it, but it really bothered me.  Like a few of them came close, but not like this.  How’s that work?”

“Variables and more variables.  Personal body chemistry.  Heightened or desensitized olfactory senses in both you and the borrowed bodies.  You were a human boy in a handful of the realities I visited.  But still a worthy adversary.”

“Adversary?”  Keith pinches Lotor, “Adversary!”

“Ow!  Yes, well.”  Lotor pets him on the head like a cat, finding the Good Spots behind his ears.  “What’s keeping us together here?  I’m very aware you don’t trust me.”

“Well…”

“And I don’t blame you.  Not really.  I’m worried that with the things I’ve seen… there’s no doubt you've seen horror in your slips too, right?  So how can I ask you to ignore those instances and just trust me?  I won’t do it.”

“Babe,” says Keith when can’t think of anything to say.  He curls in tighter hoping no one bothers them and this matter disappears.  There’s no problem if he doesn’t think on it.  There’s nothing wrong if he doesn't say so.  And sooner or later the damn humming in his ears will stop, he thinks.

“Little Red.”  Lotor kisses Keith on the top of the head, “I love you with my whole heart.  And I will try to deserve your trust and respect.  I promise.”  The words put a smile on Keith’s face but then Lotor smashes the sliver of hope with a brick, “No matter happens now.  No matter what’s been done, I need you to remember that.”

Keith sits up on his elbows, “Woah, woah, wait.  What’s been done?  What happened?  What’s going on?”

Lotor squeezes his eyes shut, “Many things.  I can’t tell you right now.  It’s like I told you before, I want to share everything with you, but there’s a place and a time.  And I’m afraid, now is not the time.  Not with those other worlds still fresh in all our minds.”

It’s suspicious.  And Keith thinks he imagines the voice of Red, warning again, _“…_ _like every one of his incarnations.  He’s using my pilot.”_

Lotor doesn’t answer, instead, he moves them both until Keith’s spooned up against the wall.  A voice command puts the light out and they lay there with the words and unsaid actions resting heavy between them.

Keith closes his eyes and hopes he wakes up in the right body, with the right pair of arms around him in the morning.  He touches his finger, and then the lock of hair behind his ear and sighs.  “I lost the diadem… Sincline took it from me and I didn’t get it back.  I’m sorry.”

Lotor squeezes him and tucks his legs in behind Keith until they’re one curled ball, “It’s okay.  It was only a relic from an old queen.  You are worth more to me than any artifact.  Sleep, Little Red.  We have a busy day ahead of us.”

When Keith does finally drift off, he dreams of the dark place, the weight hanging from him.  Dragging him down. Hitching a ride.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little tired right now (-.-) but the next two chapter should be up by tomorrow night.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lotor tries to Dom. Later Lotor is sorrycakes. Keith is the best top in all realities. Them just facts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was supposed to post this last week, but I was super duper tired.  
> 

Things are calm after the Big Space-Time Slipslide, as Coran calls it.  As calm as things can be for an active intergalactic rebellion.  After everyone shared their Relevant to the Cause stories (cats and random sex didn’t count) they all came to different conclusions.  Various contingency plans were plotted.  About fifty percent of which was ‘Break In Case Of Evil Lotor’, but he held up for most of it with his chin up.  Proudly telling everyone, he would do best to aspire to the best visions of the alliance he saw.  Lotor was not one to miss giving an impressive speech.  He, in fact, gave several.  Keith was surprised no one shackled the Prince and hauled him off to the brigs.

Pidge noted that the better Lotors and Sinclines were always married to Allura.

Allura noted that Pidge had been an evil witch in a few worlds and she dropped it.

After hours of deliberation, Hunk raised his hand and said, “All that serious and sad stuff aside.  What was the most fun thing you did in another reality?  Anyone, anyone?”

Pidge jumped up, “Funbot!”

Shiro smiled softly, "Racing professionally."

Lance smirked, “My date with Jenny got pretty wild.”

Keith frowned, “I thought you walked on the beach and held hands.”

“Wild doesn’t always have to be carnal, Keith!”

Lotor chimed in, “Speaking of which,” he said with a sly smile that made Keith’s ears turn red.  “The most fun I had was on that world where Keith was a ripe young woman and had large…”

“No!” At that point, Allura put a stop the whole meeting and told them, “You can share the rest of your stories in private.  Meeting over.  And for Arus sake’s, stop doing _that_ with your fingers, Pidge!”

That was how Keith spent the morning, and he was hoping things were going to get better.  He had his own agenda to keep while the others analyzed data from the slips and acted for the effort with their expertise.  He planned to keep on working with the Blade, but Kolivan was late to return.  When he does show up in the middle of the day, he called Keith up to the ship and asked him to tell no one about it.

Keith is hesitant but follows the command anyway.  There some things he wants an answer for himself.  He meets Kolivan in his private rooms on the Blade’s ship and they both check to make sure they’re not overheard or spied on by the other agents.  “I know what happened looked bad.  But this wasn’t Lotor’s fault.”

Kolivan narrows his eyes, “I need to know right now, how loyal are you to Zarkon’s son.”

Keith stutter, “He’s my… you know.”

Kolivan frowned, “I’m not trusting this intel with anyone else.   Yet.  For now, it’s up to you to decide what to do with it.”  He brings up a map, “The locations he gave us for that secret Ackranium supply route.  The data he claims is at the base with his equipment and Maura experiment… they’re all leading to a bigger problem, Keith.”

“No, he told us everything.  Right?  Why are you still investigating… what’s that?”  A blank space in the maps seems to leap out him.  “Where’s that coming and going to?  Another experiment like Maura?”

“I don’t think so, Keith.  I checked it out myself.  This space is reportedly the edges of a reported Quantum field.  It’s important that it gets investigated immediately.  Now an agent that’s close to one of Zarkon’s generals is the one in the best position to deal with this.”  He brings up a picture, “This is Krolia.”

Keith gasps, “I know her!”

Kolivan’s eyes get soft, “Yes I thought you might.”

“She was in a bunch of our slips!” 

Kolivan frowns and suddenly punches Keith in the head like he gave the wrong answer in the front of the class.  “Right.  Well, I need you to extract her from the general’s forces.  She’s on the outskirts and right now the factions splintered by Lotor and Zarkon are tearing that region apart.”

Keith nods, “Okay.  I’ll do it.  But after I help Lotor.”

“Help him?  Did you not hear what I said?”

“I did,” says Keith holding his ground.  “Look, he’s our best hope for a peaceful future.  And we can’t have that while Zarkon is still in power.  Like you said, the factions are fighting, right?  Lotor has this plan to Crawl Over and light some magic lamp on fire and make himself the real Emperor.”

“The Kral Zera?  Are you insane?  That area will be highly guarded and it’s deep into Zarkon’s territory.”

“We’re taking Voltron and settling this thing once and for all.”

Kolivan looks doubtful, “I bet your Princess agreed to this foolhardy move.  A decisive blow, yes, but a perilous one.”

“Maybe, but we can’t keep waiting for the right time.  We have to make a move.  And we’re doing it as soon as Ryner finishes the new canons for the rebel fleet.”  He looks at the screen again and scratches his head, “Hey, can I ask you something?  About her?”

Kolivan seizes up, “Yes.  It’s only right.”

“Does she collect teeth?  Is that a Galra thing?  We don’t like keep ‘em to give away or something right?  It’s not a food thing, right?!  Hunk thinks it’s a food thing.  Please tell me we’re not giant tooth fairies.”

Kolivan looks just as confused by the questions, “Not a clue what you’re asking, young man.  If you have questions for Krolia, it’s best you ask them in person.”  He waves his hand and the image disappears.  He backs up to the door, “But remember you have to put the mission first.  Be impartial about your feelings for this and… all other matters.  I’ll put our mission on hold while your people move into place for this, but I won’t agree to it.  Take this data on Lotor’s supply trail and don’t let him compromise it!”  Keith imagines a vein throbbing in the old spy's forehead as he takes the data.   “The coalition needs to treads carefully, entrusting power to Lotor like this.  We don’t know what he’s up to and if you hand the Galra empire, you may make things worse.  There was a plan for Ilun to attack the backend of Zarkon’s fleet circling that area.  But quietly.”

Keith rolls his eyes, “You mean slowly.  That’s not good enough anymore.  You don’t know what we’ve seen.”

He tries to shoulder past Kolivan but a hard clap on the back has him still.  “I’ve seen more than you know, young paladin.  I hope you never have to experience such horror and tragedy in your lifetime.  But it would make you wiser and more patient.”

Keith shrugs him off and opens the door.  “No.  I am a soldier.  And I’m ready to fight, not stand behind the lines with escape plans.”  He stomps away regretting his words even before the door shuts.

* * *

 

 

The list of mission objectives just gets longer and longer.

Keith meets up with Coran and Lance in the med bay.  It’s their turn for an extensive medical examination.  An all-day process that already cleared Hunk and Pidge.  Keith sits back while Coran throws around alien terminology, scanning and prodding them for almost an hour before shoving them into pods.  “And last but not least, extensive cellular inspection.  Let’s make sure your little Mae Drule cells are not degrading after all that time in nothingness.”  He pokes Keith in the belly and that gets him the straightest, meanest stare Keith can muster before he shuffles away to Lance’s pod.

Lance raises his hand like he’s in class, “Question, what if we are?  What are you going to do about?”

Coran pales, “There’s not exactly a treatment in place for cell entropy… at the moment.  But maybe freezing you for a few thousand years will help.  Maybe.  Probably not.  But it’ll hurt less.  Maybe.”  He pulls his mustache while Keith and Lance complain and locks them up in the pods.

Keith sleeps in his cell, not expecting to dream, but he does.

**_“O-ma-dah!”_ **

_Keith thinks of that far off future where he was a parent.  Lotor was Emperor.  Things are good and peaceful.  And he promised to get that point.  He thinks it’s possible._

_But the peaceful dream gives way to fire and screaming.  Crying.  Men, women, and children struggling to live in the wake of an awesome force.  Sincline’s voice echoing in the darkness.  Keith feels like he’s choking, and he scrambles to surface from the nightmare, but it holds on to him._

**_“Stop struggling, little pet.  You’re mine!”_ **

“No!”

“Woah now!  It’s all over,” says Coran.  He pulls Keith out of the pod and helps him down to the floor.  “Boy, you did put yourself in a hairy edelbert.  Relax, relax.  Breathe in and out.”

Keith does as he’s told.  A shadow falls over him and he starts to panic again until he notices a pair of skinny legs.  He sighs, “Lance.  Get out of the light, idiot.”

“What was that?  You were practically crying in there! I’ve never seen that before.”

“I’m fine,” says Keith.  He gets up on wobbly legs.  “It’s fine.  Just a bad dream.”  He turns to Coran, “Am I cleared or what?”

Coran checks his readings from the pod, “I can’t say for sure.  I have to consult with the others, but I’d say you’re free to go now.”  He scratches his chin waves them off.

Keith walks out with Lance.  “Hey man.  You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.  I’m just tired.”

“Aren’t we all?”  Lance wraps an arm around his back and walks him to the commissary.  “Let’s eat our fill of Ro-bo Plastic Pop Tarts.”

“Plastic Pop Tarts?”

“That’s what it looks like.  Lotor’s guards bought it onboard.  It's amazing.  But don’t tell him I said that.”

* * *

 

Keith tries not to think of his nightmare in the pod and focuses on the here and now.  He spends a lot of time training for their next offensive, preparing to put Lotor on the throne.  And at night he sleeps in his own bed, with a grumpy, distracted would-be usurper.

About a week later, Keith is just getting comfortable in his night clothes, drying his hair and sitting on the edge of his bed with some strategies projected on the walls, when his prince blows in like a dramatic hurricane.  Keith rolls his eyes, “I thought we agreed that we needed time to focus on important things.  Why are you still squatting in my closet, asshole?”

Lotor hurries and locks the door.  “I have terrible news.”

Keith stands up, alarmed, “What?  What happened?’

“Athanie is here.  Her husband defected to our side.”

Keith lights up, “That’s great news!  Let's go say…”

“No!  She’s with Miyu.  There’s a reason I used to keep them worlds apart.  You do not want to brave their energy at the moment.  They are _synchronizing_.”  He checks that door is locked and backs into the room.  “I’m not going back to my quarters until the next supply ship takes them to Olkari.”

Keith giggles-snorts, “Seriously?  I thought you couldn’t wait to see Athanie again.  What about planning the wedding?”  He raises a brow.  “I thought you wanted her to ‘manifest your vision’ or whatever.”

Lotor looks thoughtful enough for a second, Keith wonders if he won’t go out and brave the attention from Athanie and Miyu but then he shakes his head.  “Too risky.  I’m tired.  I’ve had a long day and there’s too much at stake to waste on frivolities… that is…”  He looks up Keith like he was caught, “Not that our wedding won’t be special.  Just it’s not as important right now.  Not when the crown is at stake…”

Keith gets up and walks over with a soft smile.  “I understand.  No rush.”  He starts unclasping Lotor’s armor, dropping the gauntlets to the floor and turning him around to undo the breastplate.  “And I have other things to do too before that happens.”  He thinks of Kolivan’s warning.  He turns Lotor again and looks him in the eye, “And we both have some more growing to do.  Like miles and miles of it, don’t you think.”

Lotor gives him a sad smile and pats him on the head, “This much wisdom with a mere seven cycles under your belt?  And many, many inches left to grow.”  He bends down and kisses Keith on the forehead, “But I fear you’ll be nearly full grown sooner than I’ll be forgiven.”

“Stop saying stuff like that!”  He tiptoes up and wraps his arms around Lotor’s neck, “Just chill with the unworthiness rhetoric, okay?  I can’t take any more of it.  You want to be forgiven?  I forgive.  One big fat blanket of forgiveness.  I’ll write it out on a card and everything.  Free pass from Keith Kogane, no matter what air-brained thing my husband got up to.”

Lotor sighs and lifts him up by the waist, taking Keith to bed and sitting him down without any effort.  “It’s easy to say such things now.  I’d doubt that fiery temper of yours will remember this little declaration later.”

Keith looks up at him, “What do you mean later?  Just what the fuck did you do this time?  Did you kill someone?”

A shadow passes over Lotor’s face.  “No.”

“Did you order someone to be killed?  Are you hurting people?  Are you talking about things that happened in the slips?  Come on, give me something?”

Lotor sits down beside him and puts his head in hands, “I’ve done enough horrible things… things I thought were for the greater good in this reality.  And I want to wash my hand of it after what I’ve seen.  But there’s no way to right those wrongs.”

“There is,” says Keith.  He straddles Lotor lap and looks him in the eye, “All you have to do is keep trying your best to do the right thing.  No matter what that is, if you’ve got everyone’s best interest at heart, I promise I’ll try and understand.  And I’ll forgive you, even if we don’t always agree.  Okay?”

Lotor sniffles and hurriedly wipes unshed tears from his eyes, “Okay.”  He combs his hands through Keith’s hair, “My Little Red.  My little knight.  What would I do without you?”

“Apparently fuck all my friends,” jokes Keith.  Then he squares up and squeezes Lotor by the chin, “Wait a sec, in this long list of crimes you think you committed, you didn’t actually fuck any of my friends in the slips, did you?”

“You said…”

“Well, I didn’t fuck anyone _but_ you!  And that was usually, you know, _in progress_!”  He punches Lotor in the shoulder, “I don’t believe this!  It was Allura, wasn’t it?  You two were always married!  I should have known!  You’ve been giving her weird looks since we came back!  You, asshole!”

“What happened to forgiveness?”  Lotor chuckles like Keith is especially cute, “Besides, I can say I never let things get that far, I promise.”  He pinches Keith’s thighs, “And here you are, already letting your temper get the better of you.”

Keith pouts, “What about the Other Me’s?  Did you even…”

“Several times, repeatedly and necessarily.  For science, of course.”

Keith tries to get up, but Lotor grins up and he sees the smug, snake-y bastard he grudgingly loves comes back to life.  He sits down with his arms crossed, “For science.  Yeah.  That’s what I’ll call it.  Dick collection data.  Compared them all.  Notes were taken.  For science.”

Lotor laughs sharply, his eyebrow giving him away with a twitch, “And just where exactly do I rank in this analysis?”

“What does it matter?  The point is I did my thing thoroughly, Your Majesty.”

“You little shit!” 

They fall over, wrestling and Keith can’t tell if Lotor is pulling punches, but he’s not.  He lands one good jab to Lotor’s nose and the prince pulls away whining and Keith laughs while raising his hands, “Okay enough, enough.  I’m too tired to keep fighting over a day’s worth of infidelity.  Right?”

Lotor’s face drop, “Right.  It doesn’t matter.  We have each other now.  Damn those other worlds and their idiotic pairings.  All I need is you.”  He holds Keith chin up and comes in for a soft kiss, but then bites him hard on the lip.  “Now about the Celebratory Wedding Orgy,”

“No!”

“Just the one.  And all of your delightfully well-shaped friends are invited.”

“No!”

“Hunk can engineer us a bed that sturdy enough…”

“No!”

“Allura can show us some ancient Altean techniques for longevity, the kind of I’ve only read about, I’m sure.”

“No!”  Keith grabs a pillow and starts to slap Lotor with it when a thought hits him, “Wait.  If Lance finally gets some, he might stop sounding desperate and sad all the time.”

“Right, and that Shiro fellow…”

“No, no, no,” starts Keith.  “We’re not going there.  I can’t.”  He stomps down on the thought of being spread out under Shiro with Lotor nearby and probably praising them.  But not before his face feels hot and Lotor starts his insufferable snickering.  Keith slaps him with a pillow, “You damn pervert!”

“What?  I thought you liked him?  Is he not invited?  Poor Shiro.  Computer, play the K’asi kello aria.”

A sad song starts playing and Keith can’t help laughing.  They spend the night wrapped up in each other’s arms again, teasing each other, but never getting further than a few kisses. 

Keith wonders if all the teasing has reached a real sore point.

 

* * *

The next day he gets to laugh at Lotor for getting caught by Athanie or Miyu.  The Prince is deprived of his armor, and his hair is braided into a half bun.  He wears a long gold coat over a thin black shirt and tight pants with two heavy looking belts.  Keith points, “You look like a [Sexy Space Pirate](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/vLORzvdmgKw/maxresdefault.jpg).”

Lotor huffed out of the room.  Dramatic coat swirl and everything.  Keith thought it was a good sign.  He rolls with his assignments, research, and training, as usual, hoping the dark depressing mood would soon lift.

During a conference with Ryner,  a coalition member is adamant that they dissolve the forces working under Lotor and have him imprisoned, and he gives Keith a hard line about being a ‘co-conspirator’ and other bullshit.  Keith tries to keep it civil, being patient and counter arguing instead of throwing something.  And then something clicks in his head when he catches Shiro staring at him.

Keith puts following up on the supply line and mounting an attack on Zarkon on the back burner.  He pulls Shiro to the side when it’s over, “Hey, you got minute?”  He asks trying to go for nonchalant but failing to find something to do with his hands.

Shiro sighs, “I’m sorry.  It’s nothing.  I just noticed how much you’ve grown recently.  The kid at the garrison would have stormed out after what he said.”

Keith laughs awkwardly feeling caught, “I did want to shut him up but that’s not going work out here, right?”

Shiro nods and claps him on the shoulder, “Right.  I’m proud of you, Keith.  Keep up the good work.  And no matter what happens, take care of yourself.”

Keith cracks at the seams, “Please don’t… I keep hearing that.  It’s getting creepy.  Like everyone expects something terrible to happen.  Like they’re saying their goodbyes.  Don’t you do it too.”

“You know…”

“I know you’re fine now!  And that you’re here.  And we’re all going to keep doing our best, right?”  He expects Shiro to put on his best brave face and give him some encouragement.

Instead, Shiro sighs, “Come and walk with me outside?”  They're quiet for most of the walk.  He leads Keith just outside the Castle’s doors.  They look down at the work being done to finalize the coalition’s claim on Naxella.  Keith's not sure what he expects.  They end up stuttering and staring at each other.  Shiro looks at his shoes, “Look there’s another thing.  I know we haven’t had much time to connect since… the blurt.”

“No, no, no way.  We are not calling it that,” says Keith through a smile.  “It wasn’t so bad.  I meant what I said.”

“And I meant… what I said…”  Shiro shakes his head and face-palms himself.  “God, that was even worst.”

Keith laughs and comes forward.  He knows now there’s so much more to the future than any one way of doing things with any certainty.  Maybe he doesn’t have a soulmate or maybe this is the future they get everything wrong, but he knows what he wants for himself.  He gives Shiro a gentle kiss on the cheek.  “That was fine.  Because I do love you.  Forget the brother shit.  You’re my person.  And I need you.”

Shiro grins through tears falling from his face and they come in for a hug.  He claps Keith hard on the back, “Thank you.  With everything we saw… I just didn’t want things to go down without you knowing.”  He pulls away and kisses Keith at the temple.  “No one has forever. But I could wait any number of lifetimes for someone like you.”

Keith breaks and sobs into his hand, “Not cool, man.  I wasn’t going to cry.  I was going walk off into the sunset and look really cool… but there you go, being perfect.”  He sobs a little too hard and snorts a little when then leans forward to wipe his nose on Shiro’s jacket.  “Sorry.”

Shiro awkwardly pats him on the back, “That’s okay.  I’ll just throw it in the wash… oh, you mean the other thing!  No, it’s fine.  I made peace with it when you started… sneaking Lotor into your room.  It’s no big deal.  Up until then, I didn’t really think of you as… you know, viable..."  He shakes his head, "That sounds terrible.”  Shiro pulls out a handkerchief and wipes Keith’s eyes.  “But you’re all grown up now, and it’s hard not to notice.”

Keith ugly sobs again, this time in Shiro’s dry shoulder.  He whines, “I’m sorry.  If I knew you were on the table, I would have… oh, wait.”  He pulls away and gives Shiro a big smile, “Mind if I invite you to our celebration orgy?”

Shiro blushes and stammers before settling for a croaky, “No.”

Keith pouts, “Worth a shot.”

They both laugh and come together for another hug.  With Keith tip-toeing to meet Shiro’s shoulder, he looks back at the castle and sees Lotor scowling at them.  “Oh shit.”

* * *

 

Keith follows Lotor inside, “Babe, come on!  Wait up!”  He curses the other man for having such long legs and ends up jogging after him.

Lotor ignores him making it all the way back to his room with Keith on his heels.

“Enjoy yourself?   Making me run after you through like a mile of spaceship, for fuck’s sake.”  Keith looks around as the door closes behind him, not seeing Lotor for a second.  “Hey?”

Lotor ambushes him from behind with a strange switch, striking Keith across the thigh.  “Palen-bol!”

“OW!  Seriously, it wasn’t that big of a deal.  It was just a kiss.  Kind of a kiss goodbye…”

“He’s hardly leaving!  Palen-bol!”

“Ow!  What gives?”

Keith tries to take the switch away but Lotor holds it high over his head while holding Keith back with one hand.  “You will obey my every command.  Or deal with the consequences.”

Keith frowns, looking up at the switch.  There’s an energy in the room, that Keith can’t explain.  He doesn’t think Lotor would actually hurt him.   They’ve fought harder.  But right now, Lotor seems to be struggling with something.  Keith eyes the annoying little bendy stick, “Are you going to stop hitting me with that thing?”

“Depends on you.”  Lotor sneers down at him, “Are you going to behave?”

The threat of a little spanking is not the worst thing to happen to Keith.  Not after everything he’s seen.  But he thinks he’s right about the feeling he has.  He looks Lotor in his dark, watery eyes and sees he’s on the verge of tears.  Emotion broiling under the surface and Keith wonder if this is it.  Will the sly prince finally snap and lose his well-trained composure?  He’s seen hints of the broken thing he suspects Lotor is holding together, but he’s in no hurry to tear him down.  Keith stands perfectly still, chin up and thinking silently, “ _Challenge accepted.”_

Lotor, “I know I’m not everything he is…”  His voice cracks and his arm wilts like he’s given up the exercise as a bad idea.

“Don’t bother,” says Keith.  “Can’t you just stick to the narrative here and ‘punish’ me?  It’s kind of a no-no on earth to drop out of character.”

Lotor looks surprised and stands there wide-eyed until he makes up his mind and strikes out, “Rule number one.  Do not speak unless you’re being spoken to directly.”

Keith rolls his eyes and rubs his ass, “That is going to get old really quick- ow!  Fuck!  Okay!”

Lotor circles around him, “Down.  On your knees.”  He presses the end of the switch until Keith goes down, “Hands behind your back.  Yes, good.  Hands clasped on the wrists.”  He swats Keith in warning again, “Don’t slouch.”

Keith can’t help himself, “This is uncomfortable, asshole!”

“Palen-bol!”

Keith wasn’t prepared for a strike to the face, but there it is.  It stings, but it wasn’t as hard as it could have been.  He might not even have a red mark later.  But the stinging is _really_ annoying.  “Fine.  No talking.”

“Unless spoken to directly.  Follow my directions, and I won’t have to use this.”  He takes off the coat with a dramatic flourish and then puts the switch under Keith’s chin and eyes his mouth.  “Open.”

Keith stares up at him with his mouth puckered in a pout, refusing until the last second.  The switch is in the air again, but Keith finally opens.  Instead of striking him, it changes direction and presses against his bottom lip.  Keith shivers thinking it would turn things around if Lotor tries to really hurt him.  And smacking him in the mouth with that thing would do it.  He threat-assesses the room, thinking of the weapons he knows are on hand, the ways to call for help, but Lotor buts all that doubt to rest.  He combs his other hand through Keith’s hair, scratching behind the ears before moving to his chin.

“There.  Open wider.”

Keith frowns, thinking he knows what’s next.  He expects Lotor shove a cock in his mouth.  He’s surprised to be fed a little blue pill instead. 

Lotor kneels down in front of Keith, “It’s nearly time for your next cycle.  We must be wary.”   He leans forward and surprises Keith again, this time with a deep kiss, tongue-fucking him while his hand twists in Keith’s hair.  He pulls it hard and sits back, “Have you any idea what you do to me, little red?”

“I don’t suppose this a multiple-choice question?”

Lotor lets a little smile slip before he remembers the narrative and stands back up barking out commands, “Up.  Take off all your clothes, now.”

Keith grins, “How with my arms behind my back?”  Another swat on the thigh has Keith almost laughing but he does as he’s told and hurries out of his clothes.  He puts his hands on his hips and kicks away his clothes on the floor, “Fine.  Done.”

Lotor stares at him, eyes tracking up and down before he comes to a decision. “Come here.”  Keith walks over, attempting a sexy walk that has Lotor smirking.  He either failed it or did it right, either he’s winning, thinks Keith.  Lotor gestures to his ridiculous belts, “Undo these, quickly.” 

Keith snarks, “Can’t get out of them on your own?  Ow!”  He gets a smack on the hand and resists headbutting Lotor.

Lotor is breathing heavily by the time Keith is done.  He grabs Keith by the hair again and inhales deeply by his ear.  “Gods, but you are…”  He sighs before snapping back into character, "On the bed.”  He swats Keith’s ass while he walks, “Not over there, up by my pillows.”

“Not the special pillow!”  A much harder swat has Keith smarting and rubbing his ass, “Ow!”

Lotor grabs him by the back of the neck and manhandles until he’s in position.  On his knees, folded in half, ass in the air and face in the pillow.  Lotor gives him a rough shake, “Arms behind your back again.”

Keith complies, his heart hammering in his chest with anticipation.  He surprised to find his cock is rock-hard and leaking and his hole is clenching, the little furl ready for stimulation. 

The switch slides down his back, the end pressing at the pucker, “It’s been some time.  I’ll have to prepare you thoroughly.  Remember our little friend?”

Keith frowns, a little worried that Lotor planned this and invited Slav.  “Which friend?  The fuck?”

A quick swat to the right cheek has his toes curling and Keith bites his lips to keep quiet.  The strikes are definitely starting to do _something_ for him.  Lotor purrs behind him, “You do remember, don’t you?”  There’s a strange whirring sound and suddenly the press of something warm and wet behind him.  It small and slim enough to slip in, but too cold to be Lotor’s finger.  “Fuckbot?”  Of course, he remembers the stretchy toy.  It takes it’s time teasing him open while Lotor press kisses to his back and bites him at odd turns.  The switch stroking a pattern down his calves.  Then swatting him lightly on the ass.  Keith sighs under the simulation.  “Oh, fuck yes.”

“Palen-bol!”  Lotor gives him hard bite on the right shoulder and Keith whimpers.  Lotor licks the spot and kisses Keith on the cheek.  “Behave yourself.  I won’t warn you again.”

Keith is trembling with the little toy expanding slowly, pulsing as it wets him with lubricant.  Lotor starts to manually push it in and out and that has Keith losing it.  His hands fly to his own cock and squeeze.

“Palen-bol!”  Lotor pulls out the toy suddenly and flips Keith over.  He looks down at him with a heated expression, still dressed but Keith can see his pants are now undone, his cock curling heavy and dark purple.  Keith keens, spreading his legs only for Lotor swat him hard on the inner right thigh.

“Ow!”

“I told you!”  Another strike is hard enough to leave a red mark and Keith starts to scoot away.  Lotor grabs him by the legs.  “No more warning.  No more chances.  You are going to get every inch of what you deserve!”

Keith frowns, thinking that had no right to sound so fucking hot.  He nods, confused now about what to do with his hands.  He goes still and waits for Lotor to do what he wants.

The man finally moves, grabbing each thigh and pulling Keith to the edge of the bed.  He bends over and bites him hard on the chest, his cock skating over Keith’s belly.  He sits up, his hair falling over his shoulder and his eyes wide, “You will obey me.  You will not question me.  You _will not_ leave me!”

Keith sees the broken look from behind the manic words and resists reaching out and try to make it better.  Lotor is hiding behind this ‘game’ as a diversion from his real feelings.  Fine, this Keith.  He can play along.   He hasn’t been this excited since the slip where he was a ripe young woman with large…  Keith shakes the thought out of his head and focuses on feeling things in this universe with his own body.  Not a borrowed one.

Lotor pins Keith’s hands over his chest with one hand and uses the other hitch up Keith’s hips until he’s exposed.  The head of his cock slips into the ring easily and catches then comes back out after several awkward looking pushes.  Keith tries to relax, wondering if he’s not ready yet.  Lotor doesn’t seem to mind it, forcing in a rough glide that’s too full, too soon. Keith cries out and Lotor covers his mouth.  Keith frowns, he’s so used to Lotor being careful.  But the man he’s looking up at is testing new boundaries.  And Keith’s curious to see how far that will go.

Lotor pushes in to the hilt, lets go of Keith's hands and uncovers his mouth to hold him wide open and watch himself slip in and out.  Keith’s breath stutters with every breach, his own cock bobbing red between them without attention.  He keeps his hands crossed and Lotor tests him, riding him harder and harder.  Curling Keith in half to find his prostate and work it over.  Keith whimpers and mews again desperate for attention to his own cock.  Lotor’s hands alternate between holding him up, scratching or pressing hard or Keith’s belly as he slips inside as if he can feel himself there, stretching Keith.

Lotor barks out a laugh, “You like this don’t you?  You little… you never cease to surprise me.  Well done, Little Red.”  He wraps a hand around the base of Keith’s cock and laughs at his relieved sigh.  “Don’t get used to it.  Come.  Again and again and again.” 

Keith doesn’t come yet, but he feels close.  He closes his eyes, mouth hanging wide open while the sound of flesh slapping echoes in his ears and wet pop of Lotor pulling out has his eyes flying open.

Lotor looks down at him, his face a sinister and familiar shadow that makes Keith’s heart skip a beat.  Keith panics and moves away, genuinely frightened for the space of a second.  Only for a rough hand to grab him by the throat and turn him over.  Lotor’s hair falls over his shoulder as presses himself close, front to back, clothes itching and scratching Keith’s skin.  Keith whines, “Fuck, no!”

“No?”  Lotor whispers in his ear, “You want me to stop?”

Keith calms himself down, eyes closed and hands scrambling for purchase under himself.  Lotor lets up on his knees and Keith sighs, looking down between his legs.  The hand that was holding him too rough is gentle and caressing his face.  Lotor hums behind and Keith feels like he’s floating in a safe place.  Lotor scratches him hard on the sides, his claws digging into Keith’s thighs before he bites at his neck.  Keith winces at the pain then sighs as something _so good_ seems to flood his body.  He reaches back to hold Lotor’s head and pull him up.  He kisses blood off Lotor’s lip.  “Okay.  Keep going.”

Lotor smiles before pushing him down roughly on the bed and pinning Keith by the shoulder. 

Every thrust is static filled and Keith’s toes curl as he's pushed to the brink, a hand wraps around his neck squeezes and while he comes across the sheets.  The sound of Lotor breathing harshly, still using him.  Still scratching and clawing.  Still squeezing his throat.  Everything goes dark and Keith dreams of sinking into a pool of white light.

 

**Author's Note:**

> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including: 
> 
> Feedback  
> • Kudos  
> • Short comments  
> • Long comments  
> • Questions  
> • Constructive criticism  
> • “<3” as extra kudos  
> • Reader-reader interaction
> 
> _*But Kudos, especially, that damn hit to kudos ratio informs me on whether something I’ve posted is liked, and I’m reluctant to keep working on things read, but not liked._
> 
> [LLF Comment Builder](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/commentbuilder)  
>     
> Author Responses  
> This author sees and appreciates all comments, but may not reply.  
>  _*If I don’t reply with an automatic Thanks, I may just be busy with my full-time work or RL issues and complications. I see all comments and really do appreciate it, as noted in most chapter updates._  
>  Whisper  
> If you don’t want a reply, for any reason ( _I myself get anxiety when trying to think of replies,_ ) feel free to sign your comment with “whisper” and I will appreciate it but not respond. Thank you for reading.


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